When colleague accuses colleague: Adjudicating personnel matters through the filing of ethics complaints

A variety of grievances may arise in the workplace-among co-workers and bet ween employees and administrative or supervisory personnel. These disputes may revolve around performance appraisals, job expectations, compensation, fair treatment, supervisory practices and employee dismissals. Typically, e mployees have several avenues of redress, depending upon the nature of thei r complaint. They may raise concerns through supervisory discussions, forma l or informal internal grievance procedures, union mechanisms, regulatory b odies (such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), and through ci vil litigation. Another alternative involves framing the disputed behavior as a practice issue and pursuing redress through professional adjudication or regulatory boards. Reported here are the findings of a study examining e thics cases filed with NASW for the years 1986-1997. Data are provided on t he frequency of collegial complaints and the nature of findings related to personnel matters. Concluding is a discussion of the implication of these f indings and the resources available to reduce the incidence of complaints a bout administrative and supervisory practices.