b'Worried That #MeToo May Come For You?Matthew BakotaAuman, Mahan & FurryBetter Workplace Investigations Can Protect Your Company Against Harassment (And Other) ClaimsMany companies are facing extremely negative publicity andhave occurred on their campuses.These lawsuits have really potential legal liability as a result of the so-called me toomade the news when they have involved a high-profile movement, in which women in various industries are comingschool or a well-known athletics program or individual forward with allegations that companies failed to do enoughathlete.Sometimes the lawsuit has been filed by the person in response to alleged sexual harassment in the workplace.who reported the alleged assault; but sometimes the lawsuit The backlash has been so significant that companies arehas been filed by the person accused of it.responding to these allegations with swift and serious action,Either way, a focus of these lawsuits seeking to hold the including quick separations of some long-time employeesschool (and even school administrators) liable often is a and executives, as part of near-immediate public responsesclaim that there were certain deficiencies and/or biases in that seem focused mainly on removing a companys namethe investigation process, which, in turn, allegedly led to from the news as soon as possible. an erroneous and biased decision on whether the accused As someone who is trained and certified as a Civil Rightsparty should be disciplined in some manner.Schools have Investigator to investigate allegations of harassment,been troubled to find themselves in this difficult spot, facing discrimination, and other workplace misconduct(moremulti-million dollar, high-profile lawsuits, in which both on that in a minute)I offer a few observations aboutthe accuser and the accused person are putting the schools what is going on right now.Doing too little in response toinvestigation process under a microscope.Various federal allegations of harassment or other workplace misconductlaws and standards have been developed or interpreted to certainly leaves a company continually exposed to potentialpush schools toward conducting investigations that are legal liability, based on claims under federal and state anti- demonstrably equitable to both parties, but the significant harassment, anti-discrimination, and anti-retaliation laws.risk of potential legal liability remains.Therefore, many (Not to mention the extremely bad publicity some companiesschools continue to invest significant time, money, and are facing now, years after some of this alleged misconducttraining to get ahead of the curve, and make sure that their reportedly took place.)However, quickly making extremeinvestigation process complies with the law and, perhaps employment decisions in response to such allegations,most importantly, decreases the risk of serious legal claims perhaps without all the facts or a full response from theand potentially significant legal liability.person being accused of misconduct, also creates a greatSo what do these challenges faced by colleges and universities deal of risk.Surely wrongful termination lawsuits are nothave to do with the roofing industry?Quite a bit, actually. far behind some of the quick employment decisions that are being made today in the wake of the me too movement. First, the certification I received came through a program So what is the best practice for companies that want togeared toward the education sector, developed by an manage and try to limit their risk after they are presented withorganization that is on the cutting edge of investigation allegations of harassment or other workplace misconduct?best practices.Those best practices are not unique to the The answer is a timely, well-planned workplace investigationeducation sector, however, and can be applied to many other conducted by a qualified investigator, as discussed in moreindustriesincluding yours.detail below. Second, in the roofing industry, you also can be subject Who Is An Investigator? to legal claims by parties on both sides of workplace misconduct allegations.Like the school cases, a main focus Some background information and context is helpful toof those claims often can be whether your company did answer this question and explain a bit about the Civil Rightsenough in response to the allegations.Therefore, if you Investigator certification that I hold. develop a practice of responding to such allegations with Even those who work outside of the education sectorsolid investigations, then you also stand to reduce your risk probably have heard news reports regarding colleges andof legal liability (just like Americas colleges and universities universities being sued in connection with their handlingare trying to do).That doesnt mean your company will never of alleged sexual harassment and assaults that reportedlybe the subject of a harassment or discrimination charge or 8 www.mrca.orgMidwest Roofer'