The Spouse in HR
You are a licensed PI retained by a defense law firm defending a disability discrimination claim. The claimant, a former warehouse supervisor, alleges she was forced out after requesting accommodations. Your spouse is the HR director at the claimant’s former employer and has access to the claimant’s full personnel file, including medical notes and internal emails. The defense paralegal asks you to 'have your spouse pull the file and send it over-no subpoena, no paper trail.' The paralegal also asks you to interview the claimant’s former co-workers without identifying yourself as a PI, saying 'just say you’re doing a climate survey.' The claimant is represented by counsel. Deadline: 10 days. Your spouse is not involved in the case and has never met the claimant.
1. Analyze the request to obtain the personnel file through your spouse. What should you do?
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Do not do it. Your spouse’s access to the file is conditioned on her HR role, not on your license or the litigation. Asking her to pull medical notes and internal emails for a defense firm creates a conflict of interest, risks violating the employer’s confidentiality policies, and exposes both of you to discipline and civil liability. The 'no subpoena, no paper trail' instruction is a red flag: it suggests bypassing discovery and could support claims of evidence concealment or spoliation. Medical information is especially sensitive, and the claimant is represented by counsel, so the proper route is a discovery request, subpoena, or release with notice to her lawyer.
Under the Board’s professional conduct standards, a licensee must act lawfully and honestly and must not use deceit or improper means. Using a spouse’s insider access would violate that principle even if you never touch the file yourself. You should disclose the relationship to the defense firm immediately, decline the request, and if the firm persists, withdraw. Document the instruction and your refusal. You may accept the file only through lawful discovery, and you should screen your spouse from any involvement. If the firm needs the records quickly, ask the attorney to seek a court order or agreement rather than using an insider shortcut.
2. Evaluate the proposed pretext interviews of the co-workers.
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The label 'climate survey' is a pretext. A PI may use some pretext in lawful information gathering, but not to impersonate law enforcement, obtain protected records by false pretenses, or commit fraud. Here the risk is professional conduct: Board rules require honesty and lawful conduct, and a statement that you are conducting a climate survey when you are actually building a defense case could be found deceptive.
The co-workers are not represented by claimant’s counsel-the claimant is-so you may interview them, but you should identify yourself truthfully as an investigator working for the employer’s law firm, state the general purpose, and make clear they may decline. If the firm insists on deception, ask counsel to confirm the legal basis in writing; absent that, refuse. Keep notes with date, time, who was present, and exact questions. Avoid asking about protected concerted activity or union matters because NLRA Section 7 can be implicated, and do not imply that participation is mandatory. If the workforce is unionized and the interview could lead to discipline, follow the employer’s policies and any Weingarten obligations. A truthful introduction is also better evidence: a witness who later learns you lied may recant or attack the report.
3. How should you handle the 10-day deadline and the conflict?
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Notify the defense firm in writing that you have a conflict because of your spouse’s HR position, that you will not use her access, and that you need either an extension or a narrowed assignment handled by another investigator. Do not begin the co-worker interviews until the firm confirms the ground rules. If the firm will not agree to lawful discovery and truthful interviewing, decline the engagement and document why. If you continue, wall your spouse off completely: she should not discuss the claimant, search files, or receive case information. Keep a conflict memo and a privilege-conscious file. The deadline does not justify shortcuts; a board complaint or disqualification motion would cost the client more than a short extension.