Investigating: He said, She said
Cannon
9 Posts
Female employee brings forth a complaint on her male co-worker claiming sexual harrassment, discrimination and threats. She is visibly shaken and doesn't want the male employee knowing she has come forward to speak with the supervisor. The threat was that she may come up missing "like that Holloway girl". No one else has overheard conversations between the two. How do we confront the male employee while still honoring her wishes? Or, do we make a point to bring all of the claims to him anyway? We have a strong no harrassment, no discrimination, no retaliation policy.
Comments
First, not every complaint is factual or a situation of harassment, and second the accused has the right to state or defend their position/side. The best you can do is get the other side, clarify the company's position regarding this type of behavior and warn against it, or any retaliatory behaviors because of the report. And DOCUMENT! DOCUMENT! DOCUMENT!
With no other witnesses, no documents or other supporting or incriminating evidence, all you have to go on is this EEs story.
DCHR has given you one of the standards - you cannot guarantee anonymity, but you do have a duty to investigate. The investigation probably starts with reviewing both EEs personnel files, but most definitely will involve discussion with the accused.
When the accused denies all knowledge and says the lady is a certifiable nut-case, then what will you do?
I think she should make a formal complaint to the police - this could quickly go beyond anything the company can or should do and call in the paid public servants is a logical step.
While others may not have witnessed the alleged misconduct or heard the alleged comments, co-workers can give you some valuable insight. What is the relationship between the two ees? Have they noticed anything out of the ordinary (does the female ee's behavior change whenever the male ee is present? Has she mentioned feeling uncomfortable around this ee? Are other ees uncomfortable around him? Has he made inappropriate comments to them?). You can learn valuable information from talking to others, even if they do not have first hand knowledge of the allegations.
Now that the ee has complained, you need to "face the accused." Of course he is going to deny the allegations, you have to be aware of his behavior during the interview. Your gut is going to tell you whether this guy is telling the truth or not, if you believe he is not being truthful, turn the screws and see what you get. By talking to other ees, you are going to have a foundation to measure up the information you receive from him. While we always want clear evidence that something happened, if you believe that it happened, unless you are not an at will employer, you can take action based on a good faith belief that something occurred. It is risky, get all the documentation you can (i.e. witness statements, schedules showing the the two ee actually worked together on the day the accuser claims the misconduct occurred, etc.) showing what you based your opinion on. Review your policies with this ee as well, harassment, retaliation, work place violence, etc. Either way, IMHO, you are going to need to show the steps you took during the investigation, whether it be to defend against her claim that you did nothing, or against his claim that you disciplined without solid evidence.
The answer is you don't honor her wishes. Honoring her wishes is NOT the point of investigating the charge. Once a complaint is made the ball starts rolling down hill on it's own. Call the EE in and start investigating. After that's complete sit down, go over the evidence, come to a reasonable conclusion and take appropriate action.
The 'Holloway' remark, regardless of what else your investigation reveals, is enough of a stand-alone threat to warrant serious action.