Harassment Investigation - Need Advice asap
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Hi
I'll try to keep it short...Last week an employee lodged a formal complaint against another regarding verbal harassment. The harasser swore at the complainant and was very degrading/rude with his comments. The complainant is a quiet, hard-working individual, who doesn't like to say much in general, so this really upset him enough to bring it forward to his supervisor as a formal complaint. He's credible right from the start.
The accused employee actually has a long history of being aggressive/rude, sarcastic, looking down on everybody & their work etc. for over 10 years! And sadly to say, there are only two small items in the form of written reprimands in his file about his inappropriate past behavior. Over the last two years, since he was transferred to a different department, he's had numerous verbal reprimands from his new manager about his negative interactions with fellow workers/customers, but nothing in writing. This manager wants to start documenting now, hence the detailed investigation.
What we did upon receiving the formal complaint was investigate by interviewing the complainant, then the harasser, and since the harasser only partially admitted that he might have offended the co-worker, but was totally blank on exactly what he said (which the manager highly doubts, knowing this guy like he does), we interviewed some witnesses/co-workers that have had dealings with him on a regular basis, to obtain their input on the types of interactions they've had with him, that would either confirm or deny the allegations. So far I believe I've done everything correctly. The part I'm struggling with is how to summarize each witness' statement, i.e. what to include/exclude, i.e. how far back to go with negative dealings they've had with him, as opposed to just dealing with this one formal complaint only etc. The pitfalls in all of this documentation, plus who gets a copy, and of what, just the final conclusion? Does the accused see what others said about his behavior, or just a summary? Help!
This is my first investigation (since being promoted a year ago) and I need whatever advice/tips anyone may have.
Thank you.
Ana
I'll try to keep it short...Last week an employee lodged a formal complaint against another regarding verbal harassment. The harasser swore at the complainant and was very degrading/rude with his comments. The complainant is a quiet, hard-working individual, who doesn't like to say much in general, so this really upset him enough to bring it forward to his supervisor as a formal complaint. He's credible right from the start.
The accused employee actually has a long history of being aggressive/rude, sarcastic, looking down on everybody & their work etc. for over 10 years! And sadly to say, there are only two small items in the form of written reprimands in his file about his inappropriate past behavior. Over the last two years, since he was transferred to a different department, he's had numerous verbal reprimands from his new manager about his negative interactions with fellow workers/customers, but nothing in writing. This manager wants to start documenting now, hence the detailed investigation.
What we did upon receiving the formal complaint was investigate by interviewing the complainant, then the harasser, and since the harasser only partially admitted that he might have offended the co-worker, but was totally blank on exactly what he said (which the manager highly doubts, knowing this guy like he does), we interviewed some witnesses/co-workers that have had dealings with him on a regular basis, to obtain their input on the types of interactions they've had with him, that would either confirm or deny the allegations. So far I believe I've done everything correctly. The part I'm struggling with is how to summarize each witness' statement, i.e. what to include/exclude, i.e. how far back to go with negative dealings they've had with him, as opposed to just dealing with this one formal complaint only etc. The pitfalls in all of this documentation, plus who gets a copy, and of what, just the final conclusion? Does the accused see what others said about his behavior, or just a summary? Help!
This is my first investigation (since being promoted a year ago) and I need whatever advice/tips anyone may have.
Thank you.
Ana
Comments
I've got a "sexual harassment checklist" that might answer many of your questions about who gets what information.
Given that this has been going on for a long time the key point, assuming that the company will follow through, is to put him on notice that effective immediately the behavior must change and that past practice of not dealing with the issue is over. This can be done, as the manager wants to do, by putting it in the written warning. This will be meaningless though, if the company doesn't follow through. The fact that it may not be legal harassment (sexual, racial etc)it is still appropriate to continue dealing with the problem since it is apparently a performance issue that is effecting the workplace.
You may be worrying a little too much regarding what you do with the information that you have gathered. You need to protect the privacy of people who have provided information, including the person who is accused of the conduct. You shouldn't give copies to anyone nor show the accused any of the paperwork, even a summary. You can verbalize to him what the consensus was without giving names. Your notes may be fine as they are but if there is a need to summarize because your notes are hard to read or because there is too much extraneous material, just write the key points in narrative form. Not sure how to advise on how far to go back but it seems to me that you would include anything that you think relevant using your good judgement. The final conclusion may be documented in the written warning.
If this is harassment from a legal perspective (sexual, racial etc.) then you may need to be a bit more formal in terms of summarizing your findings and reaching a conclusion and going back and considering past conduct may be more relevant. The problem with that, however, is if the conduct is sexual or racial, the fact that the company has not dealt with it means that it has been condoned. You may need to contact an attorney if it is a serious issue.
Regardless of the type of conduct the bottom line is to put him on notice, then above all, follow through if he violates the instructions.
Second, I'd focus the investigation and discipline on the current accusations. Don't ignore his past, but it seems unfair to dwell on it, since his supervisors blew their opportunity to address it at the appropriate time.
I agree with Marie, Gillian, and Gar, too.
And I highly recommend a how-to book called HR Quick List. It guides HR professionals through thorny situations, identifying hidden legal problems. Purchase includes a wheelbarrow full of supplemental information on the web. You'd probably benefit from these sections:
"An employee complains about discrimination or harassment"
"You're talking to employees in a basic investigation"
"You're gathering evidence for a complex investigation"
It's a great book despite the fact that I'm the co-author.
[url]http://www.hrhero.com/hrquicklist.shtml[/url]
Good luck.
James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers
Thanks again. Your prompt help is very much appreciated.
Ana
We have very strict policies regarding employee attitude, cooperation and respect for others. I have terminated employees for being nasty to coworkers, supervisors and customers - but it's difficult to do unless your policies include these provisions and are made quite clear to all employees.
G. Thomas Harper
Haynsworth Baldwin
Johnson & Greaves
While your situation does not seem to press legal issues under Title VII, et.Al., do not assume that clears you of legal responsibilities. You note that the offending party is very agressive -is it possible that this agression could ultimately result in a violent act causing injury to a supervisor, peer, or customer? If so, you may have a negligent retention issue. As a tort claim negligent retention would not necessarily be protect with by damage limits impossed by the Civil Rights Act or Workers Compensation legislation.
From the description of things, this employee's behavior is well known in the organization. Are you aware whether this employee has an "enabler" higher up in the organization? This is someone higher in the organization (an officer, a relative, mentor, close friend, etc...) who has enabled the employee to survive past attempts to change his behavior?
Before you close out this investigation I recommend reviewing things with a strong Employment Law attorney, and not necssarily an in-house counsel. As good as they are, in-house counsel are employees of the company, and client/attorney privelege may not exist or can be breached under the right circumstances.
We actually closed the investigation out on Friday of last week, and yesterday, the manager, accused employee and myself met. We gave him a written warning stating basically that based on the formal complaint brought against him, we conducted an investigation and based on the findings we were officially putting him on notice that his negative interactions with co-workers and customers had to change, because it was evident that it was affecting the workplace and morale in general. And we reminded him that in his position as salesman, one of the essential functions of his job was to have good communication skills, and unless he was prepared to work on improving them, his next "incident" could possibly lead to termination. He received the warning very well, admitted that he was offensive in what he said, and agreed that his behavior did have to change. The manager did however, want to share some of the specific situations that were brought out at the investigation, because they were quite serious, and I told him that as long as we protected the privacy of the witnesses, he could do that. That's where we might have been treading on thin legal ice?? Well, it's done now! He disagreed and denied some of the incidents, but later agreed that he might have said some of the things to employees/managers/customers, but his intent was not to put down anyone! He also asked if those findings would be put in his file, and I told him no, that only the written warning would go in his file. The investigation summary notes would go in a confidential file totally separate from other files. He was happy about that.
He also said that perhaps he needed some psychological help because he said he didn't realize he was coming across so negatively to everyone. I offered EAP, and we also offered him more communication classes. The meeting ended on a positive note, with him apologizing for his negative behavior and saying he understood that the company was serious about his having to change in this area.
So hopefully, there will be no future legal action, and he will in fact try to change his communication style to keep his job.
Thanks to everyone.
Ana
Sounds like you did a good job on the investigation and your subsequent actions (e.g. where to put info, what to write up, etc.) Having been involved in several of these myself, you will find that you have to give the person you're investigating some specifics of what was brought up--otherwise, if you're just talking generalities and trying to protect everyone's privacy, the individual can just deny, deny, deny. The manager giving specific incidents that were found was quite appropriate, again, as long as you do everything possible to protect the privacy of the individual.
We just had a similar situation where an outside salesperson verbally harassed & swore at one of my inside salespeople (this was on the phone). I heard her side of the conversation as she was trying to calm him down and finally indicating to him that he couldn't talk to her like that and he should call her back when he's calmed down. After I got the whole story and asked questions of others' interactions with him, I sent an e-mail to my boss (Plant Mgr). We have a formal harassment policy which everyone signs when they start so he forwarded my e-mail to this guy's boss (they report to different area managers). This was one more in a long line of inappropriate conversations the salesman had with employees and customers. Documentation was key as the manager had many e-mails and notes about this guy's behavior & had spoken to him several times. Because he was considered an exempt, professional, we don't do progressive discipline as you might on a line employee. He lost his job the other day.