Companies need workers to maintain their premises, produce goods for consumers or interact with members of the public. Whether a company hires workers for a fabrication facility or customer service roles, the organization has to carefully comply with state and federal statutes.
There are regulations that apply to workplace safety and employee wages. There are also statutes that govern worker and company conduct. The law prohibits discrimination against workers based on protected characteristics. Claims of harassment fall under discrimination laws. Companies should not allow workers to mistreat each other based on protected characteristics, nor should they consider those characteristics when making important employment decisions.
Sometimes workers complain about the conduct of their teammates or supervisors. They may allege that they have experienced sexual harassment. Those complaints may be internal or may involve a lawsuit against the company.
How can organizations respond to allegations of sexual harassment and avoid potentially costly losses in civil court?
By training workers appropriately
The first step toward mitigating harassment complaints is to train workers on how they should behave themselves in the workplace. Helping workers understand what may constitute a hostile work environment or quid pro quo harassment can help prevent people from engaging in inappropriate conduct in the workplace.
By investigating and documenting complaints
Individual employees aren’t the only ones who need training about sexual harassment. Members of the management and Human Resources teams need to know how to respond to complaints of sexual harassment. Even when the complaint seems frivolous, the people fielding the complaint must take it seriously.
Establishing internal documentation of the issue and initiating a company investigation are both necessary steps for protecting the company against claims that it permitted harassment to occur. When companies have documentation affirming that they responded assertively to worker complaints, the worker may have a more difficult time convincing the courts that the company ignored harassment.
In the event that the investigation substantiates the claims, the company generally needs to document how it responds. The consequences of harassment allegations could include training for the worker who engages in misconduct and possibly disciplinary action, including termination.
By proactively avoiding retaliation
The crux of many sexual harassment claims is often that a company both failed to act and inappropriately punished a worker who spoke up about what they experienced on the job. Organizations need to be careful about taking any kind of disciplinary action against those who report sexual harassment. If a company has issues with a worker’s job performance or their behavior, documentation of infractions or a slump in performance is crucial for the organization’s protection.
Businesses that have the right employment policies can minimize the chances of a worker’s claims leading to successful litigation. Having a plan to address sexual harassment becomes increasingly important as the number of employees working for a company increases.
