Getting where you are today wasn’t easy. You likely spent countless hours honing your skills to work in your profession of interest. All of that work can quickly go out the door in a matter of seconds.
Medical practitioners, professors, contractors and counselors all have to perform under the law. When these laws are broken, people’s livelihoods are often at risk. People lose their professional licenses all the time for a few simple reasons. Here’s how it commonly happens:
1. Theft and fraud
Fraud happens when someone acts deceptively with the motive of depriving others. This is often unfair to people who believe they are working with a trusted professional, only to find that they were taken advantage of by that person. Professionals may do this by withholding certain critical information their client should know, overcharging clients or embezzlement.
2. Drug or alcohol abuse
Some licensed professionals use drugs and alcohol during their work, leading to critical mistakes in their profession and evaluation. Drug and alcohol abuse can impact a professional license if it leads to the endangerment of a client’s health or interests.
3. Gross misconduct
This is a bit of a “catch-all” term for anything that involves unprofessional behavior in the workplace. Someone can lose their professional license for gross misconduct if they lose their temper at work and threaten or strike someone, falsify records or sexually harass a co-worker or subordinate employee.
You’d never do these things on purpose, but it’s possible to be incorrectly (or even falsely) accused. If some accusation that you’ve violated a professional boundary is jeopardizing your professional license, you may need to know your legal options.
