Employers should beware of being too quick to believe an employee who accuses a co-worker of wrongdoing. If the accuser has an illegal motive (such as discrimination or retaliation), and if the employer is "negligent" in investigating before taking action against the co-worker, then the employer could be legally responsible.

So says the U.S. Court of Appeals for ...

Employers, has this ever happened to you?

An employee has accused her boss of sexual harassment. Right now, it's her word against his, but you might be able to find out the truth if you interview her co-workers.

The only trouble with that is, you don't want to do anything to undermine the supervisor before you even know whether he's guilty. So, maybe you do a superficial investigation ...

Well, Gretchen is out, Roger is out, and Megyn is in. Your Magic 8-Ball is here to answer the sexual harassment questions that employers are dying to ask.

No. 1. I thought sexual harassment investigations were supposed to be confidential. Wasn't it inappropriate for all of the Fox on-air talent to be expressing their opinions in public about whether Roger Ailes did it or not? 

A semi-recent article in the New York Post -- "The Corporate 'Cure' for Sexual Harassment Only Feeds the Disease" -- cited a couple of studies that allegedly proved that sexual harassment training is worse than doing nothing because it makes men resentful and more likely to tolerate harassment.

Wow. That's terrible!

Except that it's not precisely true. What these studies ...

I have recommended on this blog and in harassment training that "operations" people (in other words, people who aren't in Human Resources or lawyers) avoid the temptation to investigate workplace harassment complaints on their own.

A commenter asked me last week why I said this. I thanked her for giving me the inspiration for a blog post.

Believe me, I do not think operations ...

It's the moment of truth! (Dum-dum-DUM!)

Two weeks ago, we talked about harassment "must-haves" 1 and 2: a good, plain-language policy, and training. Last week, we talked about "must-have" 3: the investigation.

Now it's time to talk about "must-have" 4: a fair, legally defensible determination of what happened and what action to take.

During the investigation phase, you wanted to ...

Last week, I posted about harassment "must-haves" for employers, and talked in detail about the first two: a good policy, and training. This week I'd like to talk about "must-have" no. 3 - a prompt, thorough, and fair investigation.

PROMPT. "Prompt," in the context of a harassment investigation, means that you act as soon as you reasonably can, and if you have to delay, you have a very ...

As an employer, what can you do to protect yourself when one employee claims severe sexual harassment and the other party denies it or claims it was all consensual?

The Marchuk v. Faruqi & Faruqi trial (daily updates here) is far from over, but that case, as well as one involving CRST Van Expedited in California, provide some valuable opportunities for us to learn from other employers ...

Today is the last day to vote for the 2014 ABA Blawg 100. If you have already voted, thank you! If you have not voted and are so inclined, please go here before 5 p.m. Eastern today and briefly tell them why you think Employment & Labor Insider should be on the "A" list of employment law blogs. We very much appreciate your support!

According to statistics collected by the Equal Employment ...

What should an employer do about "anonymous harassment"?

Last Friday, I said I'd devote an entire post to a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit* that didn't take too kindly to Chrysler Corporation's response to complaints from an employee about anti-Semitic and national-origin-based notes and graffiti.

*The Seventh Circuit hears appeals from federal ...