The HR Specialist

In addition to providing plain-English HR advice that tells readers what they can do, not just what they can’t do, The HR Specialist shows HR professionals how to raise the profile of the HR function from the back office to the boardroom. Readers will find personal success by developing innovative solutions to general management problems.  Learn more about The HR Specialist and the two free reports you'll get when you subscribe...

Issue: Following correct protocol when investigating harassment complaints.

Risk: Courts will slap organizations with big punitive damage awards if they ram complaints through a "kangaroo court."

Action: Approach investigations with an open mind. Don't skip any steps, and don't allow supervisors to do so, either.

As we've seen many times in Washington, the "cover-up" usually lands people in more trouble than the original crime. That's also true in workplace harassment.

For that reason, it's vital to never play favorites when investigating harassment complaints and never rush to judgment. Establish a clear-cut investigation process, and follow it to the letter each time; don't skip any steps. Make sure supervisors do the same.

Your goal is to discover the truth through an honest and thorough fact-finding mis-sion with equal weight given to each party. Courts will come down hard on organizations that try to whitewash corroborating evidence or misrepresent their findings.

Recent case: A marketing coordinator filed an internal complaint, claiming her supervisor repeatedly subjected her to sexual advances, requests for dates, in-appropriate comments and hugs.

But the company shrugged off her complaint and concluded that no sexual harassment occurred because co-workers didn't corroborate her allegations.

The problem: The company didn't conduct a full investigation. It interviewed only select witnesses and drew a premature conclusion that the supervisor simply had an "inappropriate management style."

The employee sued, and a jury awarded her $15 million in punitive damages and $100,000 in compensatory damages.

The big bombshell: Evidence showed that, in fact, some witnesses actually backed up the woman's claims, even though the company told her she was flying solo. (Nestler v. Chartwell Dining Services, No. 02-CV-1115, N.D.N.Y., 2004)

When HR pros face conflict-ing stories about alleged harassment, they can't just throw up their hands. Our free report, Investigating Harass-ment: How to Determine Credibility, offers advice on sorting through such "He-said, she-said" dilemmas. Find it at www.hrspecialist.net/harassment.