[Tidybuoy]

I need some advice from the experts in Human Resources or Legal.

I have an employee that is out on a workers comp leave. This particular employee is suspected of a fraudulent claim and our insurance company is currently doing an investigation on this employee.

Not only do we feel that the claim is grossly overstated, this person is also suing their former employer for a workers comp claim that was never disclosed in our own w/c process. As a result, we recently found out that our insurance has been paying medical bills that are related to the former employer's claim in addition to an auto accident issue as well.

My Question:

I just paid out quarterly bonus to all my employees and my human resource manager is telling me that I have to pay this employee as well because he is technically still employed and was here during the bonus periods (I'm paying the 1st 3 qtrs. of 2013).

I hate the thought of mailing a bonus check to someone who was a terrible employee and is possibly defrauding me now. Can I hold the check until he returns without being guilty of retaliation? The bonus is not guaranteed and is discretionary but the discretion is based on what the company will pay out and then is applied equally to all employees.

Any advice or direction to a link that I can uses as support would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance....