Internal Ethics & White Collar Investigations

There may come a time in an organization’s existence when something goes wrong — sometimes really wrong. If an employee, executive, director, contractor, or other affiliate commits misconduct, the incident may expose the organization to financial or criminal liability. The event may become a breaking news story for every news outlet and social media feed.

Internal Investigations

Adverse events happen, no matter how careful, complete, or rigorous a company’s oversight, handbooks, and operating procedures. Commonplace examples include an employee using the company credit card for personal purchases, a supervisor harassing a subordinate, an employee hurt on a construction site, an executive committing insider trading, or someone violating OSHA, FDA, FDIC, FEC, FAR, FINRA, or any of the hundreds of other federal, state, and local agency regulations.

If something goes wrong, your company, brand, livelihood, and future are on the line. You need to know what happened and be on top of the events, so when the world knocks on your door, you have answers. Having the most complete and accurate answers mitigates criminal, civil, and tort liabilities, as well as social pain and embarrassment.

Quickly recognizing and investigating the allegations before outside organizations (and government agencies) get involved allows you to take immediate and appropriate action, get “ahead of the narrative”, and avoid surprises. In the rare case the misconduct was egregious or criminal, having an independent, complete, and thorough investigation to provide to law enforcement or an oversight agency gives that agency evidence to support recommendations against organizational penalties, fines, and litigation.

Our Experience

The attorneys at MNB Meridian Law have defended against and prosecuted hundreds of internal investigations into employee misconduct, financial crimes, sexual assault and harassment allegations, and organizational-wide matters that were the focus of public attention for months.

The crucial key to successful investigations is taking proactive measures to understand what happened as quickly as possible. Using that information, your organization can take appropriate, legally defensible, and unbiased action based on established laws, regulations, and company policies and procedures. Only then can you have comfort in knowing your assets are protected and liability minimized. MNB Meridian Law attorneys can help you get there.

Contact Us for Internal Investigation Assistance

For assistance with an internal investigation, please contact us by calling 215-268-3003 or using the online contact form. With offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Alexandria, Virginia, MNB Meridian Law serves clients throughout the United States and around the globe.

What We've Done

Army Soldier Facing Article 15 for Posting Publicly Available Information

An Army Specialist posted a newspaper article on social media, without commenting, about a fellow Soldier arrested for soliciting sex with a minor. The Specialist’s First Sergeant threatened him with non-judicial punishment (Article 15), loss of liberty, extra duty and denied repeated requests for leave due to the Specialist “bullying” the ar…

Former Army Staff Sergeant and a Poor Line of Duty Investigation

An Army Staff Sergeant was involved in a catastrophic motorcycle accident and was left in a significant reduced cognitive state requiring 24-hour in-home nursing care for the remainder of the Soldier’s life. After a poor line of duty investigation, the Soldier’s command determined the Soldier’s accident was Not in the Line of Duty (NLOD) –…

Navy Sailor Retained after Positive Urinalysis for Prescribed Medication

A Navy Sailor with 8-years of service tested positive for oxycodone after being prescribed and taking hydrocodone after surgery. He went before the Mast, was reduced one rank, and placed on restriction and extra duty for 45-days. Due to “Big Navy” policy to process all positive urinalysis for administrative separation, and given his time in ser…

Navy Sailor’s Other Than Honorable Discharge Upgraded

A former Army Soldier was discharged in 1986 with an other than honorable characterization after attacking a foreign civilian during a psychotic event. Despite 6-months of inpatient treatment for schizophrenia after the incident, the Army preferred charges for the attack. On the advice of and through counsel and despite of his debilitated mental st…

Army (Reserve) First Lieutenant Misconduct Filed in the Restricted File

In 2014, an Army First Lieutenant (1LT), married to another Army 1LT (assigned to an OCONUS duty station), engaged in an inappropriate (non-sexual but socially intimate) relationship with the wife of a fellow Army Officer. The 1LT-wife reported her husband and the 1LT-husband was issued a Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR) and was honorably discharged…
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