Employers today need to navigate an increasingly complex world when it comes to managing and, potentially, terminating their employees. When an employer makes certain decisions (such as to terminate an employee), the employer must be careful to consider the full situation in the context of that employee’s identity, experience with the employer, and experience with other individuals at the company. For example, when an employer terminates an employee, the employer needs to consider whether that employee could reasonably believe they are being discriminated against.
Workplace discrimination and harassment can be an incredibly complex minefield. The unfortunate reality is that there are many legitimate cases in which the employee deserves remuneration, but there are others in which the employee simply believes filing a claim for harassment or employment discrimination could equal a quick buck. Nonetheless, every case needs to be taken seriously. When an employee takes legal action against their employer, it’s time for that employer to hire a lawyer that will protect it.
What Does Employment Discrimination Look Like?
Employment discrimination can take many forms, but each state tends to have clear guidelines that can establish employment discrimination at the state or federal level. For example, California law explicitly states what would be considered employment discrimination. In California, it is generally illegal for employers with five or more employees to discriminate on the basis of a “protected category,” such as race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, and more. It can occur in the context of any business practice, including but not limited to the following:
- Employment advertisements;
- Job applications, screenings, and interviews;
- Hiring, promoting, or terminating employees;
- Working conditions;
- Compensation;
- Training and mentorship; and
- Union membership
Employment discrimination is a common and pervasive issue, and it’s important for an employer to identify it and reduce it wherever it is found. Pride Legal has numerous resources to help employers learn how to prevent employment discrimination through training and to deal with it where it happens.
How Can An Employer Not Be Liable For Discrimination Claims?
The Supreme Court has ruled that an employer could be ruled not liable for harassment claims if the employer has set up an effective policy for banning discrimination and harassment.
Courts have established specific requirements for an employer to not be held liable for harassment claims. These requirements include an effective policy on (1) where to report employment discrimination and (2) what is considered harassment in the workplace. Because of a concern that a single person could pick favorites and decide not to handle a certain person’s claim properly, it is similarly important to ensure that there are multiple people taking complaints and handling them. Oftentimes, a company will have a Human Resources department dedicated to handling harassment claims for this reason.
If the Human Resources department– or any other body designed to deal with these claims– learns about any complaints related to employment discrimination or harassment in the workplace, those claims must be thoroughly investigated. It is critical for those individuals to follow through if the company is to limit (or even eliminate) its liability. If a company handles all employment discrimination problems and workplace harassment claims with these proper steps, the court may very likely decide not to hold the company liable.
How Could A Company Investigate Harassment Claims?
There are a few basic rules when investigating employment discrimination and workplace harassment claims. However, it is important to keep in mind that each situation is different, and the employer will often need to adjust its approach.
Remain neutral. It is critical that the employer not make assumptions or judgments based on anyone’s past, nor begin the investigation with incredulity that it could happen in their company. Handling employee discrimination and harassment claims are meant to be taken seriously and to be upheld with the law (of the company.) If the group handling the claim jumps to conclusions, this could lead to the employee filing a formal suit.
Do not retaliate. The employer should not retaliate against the employee who is filing a complaint. Not only is it illegal to retaliate against an employee who brings up any claim of harassment or discrimination, but it likely to exacerbate an already sensitive situation.
Do not shoot the messenger. Remember, the employee filing the claim is the victim, not the perpetrator. While the employer investigates the claim for its merits, it should not suspend or fire the employee, and, if it does, the employee should be paid during that time period. This could lead to wage and hour issues if there is a lawsuit later down the line. In certain circumstances, it may make the most sense to suspend the employee with pay while the employer investigates the claim quickly.
Find and keep track of the facts. The investigation should seek to uncover all of the evidence, whether it corroborates or contradicts any element of anyone’s story. This may entail talking to the parties’ coworkers who witnessed the incident(s), reviewing CCTV footage, or even hiring a private investigator to look at all the evidence (typically ex-policemen, who would know what to look at and which rocks to turn over). Perhaps the most important parts of the investigation are to document everything and keep it confidential.
Take action. Following the investigation, the employer must decide what to do with the information they gathered. Was the claim legitimate? Who was the wrongdoer? What actions should be taken? Possible responses run the gamut of a simple warning (for a genuine misunderstanding) to the termination. Whatever the decision, action should be swift and documented.
How would an employer know they’re being sued?
There are many ways an employer might find out that an employee is planning to take legal action against the employer. You may not find out until you get served, or you might simply overhear it in the office. It might also become clear immediately following an employee’s termination if they threaten to sue on the basis of employee discrimination or workplace harassment. If an employer anticipates a possible lawsuit on these grounds- however, the employer grew to anticipate it- it is in the employer’s best interest to contact a lawyer as soon as possible.
F.A.Q.s:
Q: One of my employees had harassed a coworker. What can I do?
A: Hopefully you have these policies banning harassment and discrimination in the workplace. If you feel like you do not, you need to take the correct action against the employee that had harassed the other. It is important that you do not just handle the current situation, but also prevent that situation from happening again in the future.
Q: I fired an employee, now they are stating they were fired because of discrimination. What can I do?
A: You have a few options on what to do. Read our article here on employment discrimination. First, you may prove the reasons why you or your company chose to fire that person. For example, if they were late constantly, or didn’t do their job properly, these could be proved in court. The caveat of this is that these rules must be enforced for everyone else as well- so you can’t punish a single employee for being late, while it’s okay for others to be late sometimes. You must be fair and equal.
Contact Pride Legal
If you or a loved one has been involved in a discrimination claim, we invite you to contact us at Pride Legal for legal counseling or any further questions. To protect your rights, hire someone who understands them
