Physiatry Practice Management Resources

Confronting the thief, but no confession

Reluctant to confront Shirley myself, I hired an attorney to deal with her. We decided that if she admitted the embezzlement and agreed to pay back the money over time, we wouldn't press charges. Late one afternoon, the attorney met my wife and me in my office, and we called Shirley in. My wife told her she had found some "mistakes" in the day sheets, and asked her to explain them.

If Shirley was nervous about getting caught, she didn't show it, feigning ignorance about the missing money. When we questioned her, she asked if we were accusing her of stealing. Our attorney replied, "Not if you can account for the missing cash." She couldn't, but continued to proclaim her innocence.

As we'd arranged, our attorney told Shirley that she was terminated for gross negligence and for not reporting the "missing" funds. He ordered her to collect her belongings and leave immediately. Shirley then turned to my wife, and in a vicious tone I'd never heard from her, said, "This is the way you treat someone after six years? I hope you can sleep at night for what you're accusing me of."

Shirley cleared out her desk and left. I then met with the staff and told them she wasn't coming back, apologizing that I couldn't say more. I considered reporting Shirley's theft to the police, but decided against it because we didn't want to go through the painful process of a trial, and because I was ashamed of my own naivete.

Months later, I ran into the insurance broker who wrote my premises liability policy. When I told him about the loss, he asked me if I had filed a claim. I hadn't realized that a clause in my policy covered reimbursement for such embezzlement. After we presented the evidence of Shirley's theft, the insurer reimbursed $7,500 of our loss.
The story that never ends

I thought that would mark the end of the story, but it didn't. Shirley later hired an attorney who claimed I owed her $3,000 in unpaid vacation and bonus. Considering that she'd stolen $10,000, I felt I didn't owe her anything. Nonetheless, after running up legal bills fighting with her, I ended up paying her off with $600.

Even that wasn't the end. Like a monster in a horror movie, Shirley kept coming back at me. She filed a claim for unemployment insurance, which I fought and eventually won because she'd been fired for cause.

I later learned that Shirley had found a job in another physician's office in the area. Since her entire medical employment experience had been in my office, I couldn't understand how another doctor would hire her without calling me for a reference. I toyed briefly with the idea of phoning that doctor and warning him, but my attorney advised against that: Since Shirley had never been convicted of theft, such comments could be considered slander.

When my insurer sued Shirley for the amount it had reimbursed me, she declared personal bankruptcy. That's when I finally understood why she'd stolen the money. Her bankruptcy notice listed two pages of creditors that revealed a lifestyle she simply couldn't afford. She drove an expensive car, a much nicer model than mine. She had bought more expensive jewelry than I could afford to buy for my wife. And she'd spent a great deal of money on cosmetic surgery.

I still feel embarrassed by what happened, and I wonder if I'll ever trust anyone again. Since then, however, I have established policies to prevent embezzlement. All office cash and checks now go through at least two staff people and must be matched with the day sheets, which are audited by the office manager and then again by my wife. And we now conduct criminal background checks on all new hires, in addition to reviewing their employment, educational, and personal references.