CASE 47 Caught in the Act Part 1. A New Man on Deck Background Information ‘Though 25 years of hard work and good luck, Bill Johnson built up his com- pany, Johnson Properties, from one fledgling apartment unit into a multimillion- dollar, 2,000-unit property management enterprise. Because the units were located at over 30 different sites, Johnson had to rely on five different property managers. Each manager had almost total authority and responsibility for rent- ing and maintaining the facilities under their control, servicing the renters, and collecting payments. One property manager, Wendy Samikura, had been with Johnson for more than 10 years and was very adept in her work. The flagship facility of the five properties for which Wendy was responsible was Armatage Towers, a 150-unit complex. Armatage Towers appealed to older couples and retired individuals. A resident manager was responsible for the daily chores of managing and maintaining the Towers. To guarantee round-the-clock access, the resident man- ager's employment agreement included rent-free use of an apartment along with free utilities and phone services. In addition, the resident manager had passkeys to enter any part of the building in order to work on problems at times that were ‘most convenient to the residents. About two years ago, during a very hot summer, the resident manager at Ar- matage Towers retired. Wendy was most concerned about replacing him with someone who could work on and fix the temperamental air conditioning and other systems in the Towers. She ran a help wanted ad in the local newpapers, asking applicants to phone her office if interested. Wendy sereened the calls herself. To determine minimum qualifications, she asked each applicant about their experience in working with centrifugal air con- ditioners and elevators, as well as about their prior experience in managing high-rise units. She also asked what their family situation was like. One of the phone-in applicants who impressed her most was a 35-year-old ‘man named Frank Lupo. Frank indicated he had very strong qualifications; he was currently employed as a resident manager in a high-rise apartment-hotel combination and looking for another job that involved less commuting. He sent in a resume, which included his current employer as a reference. Wendy inter- viewed Frank in person and then visited his home, where she met his wife and daughter. Wendy also called his employer and asked if he would hire Frank 471Fifty Case Studies for Management & Supervisory Training back, to which the manager said yes. Satisfied with his background and pleased with her impression, Wendy hired Frank Lupo for the job. Frank and his family moved into the apartment soon thereafter. During the first year or so, things seemed to go smoothly. Wendy would regularly visit the Towers and meet with Frank to review matters. She always called him first to notify him of the meetings so that she knew he would be available. She generally heard very good things about him from the tenants, who loved his ability to fix almost any problem they had, although she did hear an occasional complaint about Frank drinking while on duty. On further investi- gation, she had learned of a few specific occasions when he had appeared to be somewhat intoxicated or smelled of alcohol, but as some of these instances oc- curred during off-hours, Wendy was not too concerned. This period of good feeling lasted through the first year. Then one day, not long after Frank’s first anniversary with the company, Wendy stopped by unan- nounced to talk with him about a project she had in mind. She could not locate him in the building, so she went to his apartment. After repeated knocking, Frank opened the door. He was dressed in a bathrobe, his hair was a mess, and he had not shaved in some time. He had been asleep, and although she was a good three feet away from him, Wendy could smell the unmistakable scent of alcohol. He was very drunk. He explained that his wife had left him the night before. Wendy listened, then talked with him about the drinking. He admitted to some problems in the past with alcohol. Wendy instructed him to go to Alcoholics Anonymous, add- ing that he should later bring her a signed slip stating that he had attended. ‘A few weeks later, Wendy asked Frank if he had gone and he said yes. However, AA, because it was anonymous, would not sign a slip. After a month or so, because there were no further complaints, Wendy assumed the problem had been resolved, and things retumed back to normal. ‘About two weeks ago, on May 15, Wendy heard an alarming report from Juanita Williams. Ms. Williams was the daughter of Mrs. Creedy, a tenant in the building. Ms. Wiliams, an official with the city government, regularly visited her retired mother. In early May, on an early Sunday evening, she dropped her mother off at the Towers after they had spent a day visiting in the city. Frank Lupo, walking by the car, noticed them and opened the door to help Mrs. Creedy out. While he was holding the door, Juanita Williams gave her mother a small bundle of dollar bills, worth about $120. Frank escorted Mrs. Creedy into the building, and she went to her apartment. Early the next day, however, Mrs. Creedy called her daughter to report that the money was missing. Curiously, Mrs. Creedy told her daughter, the chain was still on the door, so she could not understand what had happened. Juanita Williams had the police investigate, but they found no sign of forced entry. What they did find, on closer inspection, though, was that one of the links on the chain had been finely sawn in half, then replaced. They concluded it was an inside job of some sort. Juanita Williams called to ask Wendy what could be done. Wendy promised to look into the matter immediately, and called Mrs. Creedy. In that conversa~ tion, Wendy learned from Mrs. Creedy that other tenants had also experienced thefts of money and other valuables. It appeared that although the tenants re- 472Case 47: Caught in the Act ported the incidents to Frank Lupo, he had done nothing further with the re- ports, and this was the first time Wendy had heard about the problem. During this same period, Wendy received the monthly phone bill for the resident manager's apartment. Looking over the bill, Wendy noticed a very un- usual pattern. Many of the calls had been made to the same number, and each of these calls lasted less than one minute. The calls had been placed continually throughout the day, starting in the morning and ending in the evening. This was the first time Wendy had noticed such a pattern in Frank’s phone bills, What struck her most about it was the sheer number of calls placed: during the month of May, Frank had made over 100 such calls. Wendy contacted the phone company and asked for an explanation. They told her the number Frank had called so often was that of a beeper in an adjoin- ing township. Because the township had a different area code, the calls were considered long-distance ones and showed on the bill. ‘Wendy now suspected that drugs were the source of the problem, CASE QUESTIONS 1, Evaluate the employee selection procedure Wendy used. Given the nature of this job, should Wendy have been extra careful when selecting someone for the resident manager’s position? If so, what steps should Wendy have taken? 2. What actions should Wendy take now? 413