False Sexual Harassment Allegations

Suppose one or a few of your employees made a claim against a co-worker. The claims seem so real, so credible and so devastating that you felt compelled to act. After all it is the right thing to do! Imagine you fired the "offender" and did all the things you think you should do as a good moral person...

Think about potentially finding out later on that it was a hoax, it never happened, it was all made up, part of some sick joke. You would be in the middle of a "lose-lose" situation and you would be one of the big losers.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/five-high-school-mean-girls-targeted-boy-with-false-accusations-of-sexual-assault-lawsuit-claims

It seems unfair that someone would put you in that situation. Why would they do something like that? Who knows but the biggest question you should be asking yourself is "how should I handle any claim to protect everyone involved, including the business?"

It seems having the basics in place and following those policies and procedures, to a tee, is one of the best way to avoid making a mistake when dealing with issues. So please think about:

1. Have a great Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy ---Make sure everyone in your business knows about it.

2. Train your people- train, reinforce, retrain and then REPEAT.

3. Make sure your supervisors and managers know what to do--- how they react could be critical.

4. Do not take anything for granted or lightly--- if you must, bring in outside parties for investigations.

This is a tough situation, but it is not so outlandish that it could never happen. Please do not take this lightly. Please reach out to us if we can help.

Rick Maher

CEO

Turning Point HCM

TurningPointHCM.com