Dealing with sexual harassment and assault at the workplace should be a priority for businesses. But there is always a possibility of employees and owners being framed with false allegations. A disgruntled employee or an unhappy former worker may do it to get back. Proving your innocence can be challenging unless you have solid evidence to falsify the claim. It makes sense to be ready to deal with such situations to protect your business against them. The best thing to do is develop a process and policy for handling such claims. A well-structured investigation and expert legal advice can do the rest. Here are some ways you can deal with false accusations of workplace harassment.
Take reports seriously
As any small business owner, it is easy to pay less attention to claims of workplace harassment when you wear multiple hats. But not doing so can land you in legal trouble. Moreover, it can tarnish your reputation, and you may even lose your best employees. You must take every report seriously, no matter how trivial the matter appears. Take time to hear out the complaint and seek advice from an employment law attorney. Avoid making judgments before investigating the situation properly. It is good to have a process for such reports so that employees are comfortable with doing so. Also, make sure that the complainant feels safe because retaliatory action is often a risk. Likewise, the accused should not be assumed guilty until proven.
Investigate the claims
As a business owner, it is your responsibility to investigate a claim once an employee makes it. Your HR team should do it as a part of their job. However, you can have a special team for handling such allegations. You may even consider outsourcing a third-party firm to take a more independent stance on the situation. It is a good option to ensure unbiased investigation and get expertise. Ensure that the team can get as much evidence as possible. Do your bit by helping them with facts, witnesses, and information. Once they have the required information, they will provide a final report.
Ensure that the defendant gets a fair chance
While sexual harassment claims are serious, not all of them are always true. Moreover, investigations may also lead to inaccurate outcomes on some occasions. Make sure that the person accused gets a right to sex crimes attorney legal representation during serious allegations like assault and rape. Since these crimes are grave, they have dire legal consequences. No one should end up in jail when they are innocent. Having a sex crime lawyer is the only way they can prove innocence and get out of trouble. Let the employee hire an expert and present their side of the story.
Seek advice for handling false claims
When the reports do not substantiate the claim of harassment, they may be false. Likewise, even true ones may become doubtful due to a lack of evidence. Either way, you must seek legal counsel to deal with the situation. It is crucial to punish the guilty because it sets an example for others. It also makes your workplace a safe one. But you must also penalize people who make false allegations on others. It is equally vital to prevent such events in the future. Speak to an expert and get advice for the next steps.
Protect your company
Harassment claims are likely to happen more often than you imagine. You must have a proper plan to deal with these events and protect the reputation of your business in the long run. Luckily, some simple measures can take you a long way. Here are the ones you must implement.
- Implement a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual discrimination and harassment in your company. It sets clear expectations for the employees, and they will think twice before indulging in such acts.
- Train managers and employees to educate them about acts that constitute harassment, assault, or discrimination. Include the ways to deal with such incidents in the training program.
- Ensure that your HR department maintains good employee records beyond performance and productivity. They should document workplace behavior to keep track of every person on board.
- Create a stringent work policy with the advice of an employment attorney. Ensure it aligns with the local and federal anti-harassment and discrimination laws to keep you on the right side of compliance.
Dealing with sexual harassment and assault at the workplace is crucial to maintaining your organization’s reputation. While you must ensure punishment for the guilty, it is equally vital to protect people against false allegations.
