Allegations of discrimination and harassment can cause extensive damage to your business. Of course these are serious matters and workers shouldn’t be subjected to unfair employment practices, but you may unknowingly find your business at the heart of a discrimination or harassment lawsuit if you’re not careful. That’s why you should really be proactive in preventing such allegations from arising in the first place.
Avoiding claims of harassment and discrimination
The first step in avoiding these claims is recognizing that harassment and discrimination can occur at any point in the employment process, from application to promotion and termination. You should also be cognizant that you don’t have to be overtly discriminatory in order to be found in violation of employment laws. If a policy or employment practice is found to disproportionately affect members of a certain race or religion, for example, then your business may have been found to engage in discriminatory practices. Therefore, you need to know, specifically, which laws apply to your business and how to abide by them.
Other tactics that might help you avoid discrimination and harassment claims include developing cohesive, holistic, and clear policies and practices, monitoring employee actions, fully investigating complaints and acting on them accordingly, and keeping detailed employment records. Taking these steps can also help you prepare a strong defense in light of legal claims, as they may provide justifications for why your business acted the way it did in regard to a particular employee.
Don’t be afraid to stand up
A lot of businesses are concerned about how they’ll appear if they aggressively pushback against discrimination and harassment claims, especially in light of the public awareness these issues have brought over recent years. Yet, being passive in the defense of your business can lead to significant consequences. Therefore, if you’d like to learn more about how to avoid discrimination and harassment claims, as well as how to aggressively defend against such allegations, then you might want to consider reaching out to an experienced employment law attorney of your choosing.
