Despite all the preventive measures HR takes, many companies will still find they have a rogue manager who doesn’t know how to behave properly. But HR has a powerful tool to protect against liability:

The anti-harassment policy.

In one recent case, an employee sued after enduring several incidents of harassment by her supervisor. The conduct she complained about was pretty severe. She alleged that he:

• used profanity on a daily basis, including slurs directed specifically at women in the office
• asked her to stay in his hotel room during a business trip
• stood uncomfortably close to her and breathed down her neck, and
• touched himself inappropriately in her presence.

However, it took several months before she filed a complaint. She eventually went to HR after receiving a bonus that was less than she expected.

The company investigated. No witnesses corroborated the allegations, so HR decided there were no grounds to fire the supervisor.

The employee was offered several options to solve the situation, including transferring her to a different office, sending the manager to counseling and bringing in an industrial psychologist to monitor his behavior.

She turned them all down and sued the company for allowing the harassment.

The company argued all the appropriate actions were taken after the woman complained — it wasn’t the HR manager’s fault that no one knew what was happening sooner. All employees received a policy requiring harassment victims to notify HR or a manager about any problems immediately.

The employee said she was aware of the policy but didn’t file a complaint sooner because she was afraid of damaging her career and decided to “go along to get along.”

Who won? The court ruled in favor of the company. Put simply, it couldn’t have taken action until the employee filed a claim. If she had complained sooner, the company could’ve acted sooner.

Also, without proof that the allegations were true, the company was right not to fire the supervisor. Employers don’t need to make those decisions based only on “he said, she said” types of investigations.

The bottom line: Just because one manager behaved inappropriately didn’t mean the company allowed or condoned sexual harassment. The judge noted that harassment can only be prevented if the victims cooperate by taking advantage of the protective measures offered by their employers.

Cite: Baldwin v. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama

Tags: complaints, Harassment, investigations, manager, policy, preventive measures