Maria and Marcus work with people with disabilities in respite care. Recently Maria asked her friend and work colleague, Marcus, what is the matter. He has been very pre-occupied lately and it is starting to show in his work. He is short with the clients and really lost his cool when two of the clients were arguing at lunch time. Maria has also noticed that he seems to be distancing himself from the clients sometimes. Yesterday Keith was getting very frustrated when he couldn’t do up his buttons – normally Marcus is very good with Keith and takes time to talk to him and reduce his frustration levels but yesterday Marcus just walked out of the room and told Keith to get Maria to help him.
Marcus decides to confide in Maria but makes her promise not to tell anyone what has happened. He has been charged with assault following a pub brawl which resulted in the person being seriously injured. He has spoken to a lawyer who has advised that it will definitely go to court but it will be some time before his case is heard – probably more than 12 months. He insists it wasn’t his fault – the other guy was being an absolute idiot in the pub and pushed Marcus until he lost his temper and hit him.
Marcus is worried sick about what will happen when he has to go to court. But he is also worried about his job now. He knows he should declare the charges to his supervisor but he is sure that he will not be allowed to continue at work due to the seriousness of the charges. He needs the job so he will be able to show in court that his is gainfully employed, and also so he can pay for his legal costs.
Maria gives him a hug and feels very bad for Marcus. Marcus tells her that he is taking a week’s leave to sort things out and that Maria must keep it a secret. Maria knows she should not do that. It all seems very unfair and now she has a problem too.
Advise what you would do in Maria’s position.