Shortly after starting her job at an auto parts retailer, a female employee in Mesa, Arizona said she was subjected to sexual harassment over the course of a year by her store manager. The store manager allegedly forced the worker’s head down to his genitals, exposed himself to her and made crude sexual remarks toward her.

Allegedly, HR investigated these incidents, and even interviewed five witnesses. (Take note of the “allegedly.”)

The last of these incidents was fortunately caught on a security camera at the store, and the regional HR manager forced the store manager to resign.

The female employee filed suit with the EEOC. When the EEOC asked the company for the documentation of the investigation, the store had some bad news — they simply didn’t have records of the employee’s sexual harassment claim.

Okay, said the EEOC. How about the records of the employee interviews HR did with the five witnesses to the harassment? Sorry, said the company. We are unable to locate that document at this time.

And the videotape of the store manager sexually harassing the employee? You guessed it — lost as well.

With all the documentation missing, the jury wasn’t buying the company’s story — and hit it with a $65,000 verdict.

The lesson for managers here? No documentation is just as harmful as bad documentation. Stress to your managers the importance of not only keeping good documentation, but also keeping organized records — you never know when your company will need to produce the paperwork again.

You can twist yourself in knots trying to dodge a lawsuit, but it really comes down to the avoiding the Big Six Mistakes.

Whitney Warner, an employment attorney with the firm of Moody & Warner, says these are the problems that come marching into her office most often: 

Not giving a reason for firing. You’re an at-will employer, so you can fire at will, right? Wrong. Most employees think they’re wonderful workers, and if they get fired for a mysterious reason, they’ll make up their own reason – or their lawyer will. The reason for termination needs to be clear.

Firing an employee for bad performance when the employee has good performance reviews. This is the cousin to “not giving a reason for firing.” Supervisors need to understand that they’ll need a poor-performance paper trail if they want to fire someone. Or else a judge will smell something fishy.

Poor timing. (a) An employee files an internal complaint about the employer or a supervisor, and then (b) shortly after is disciplined for a supposedly unrelated event.  It won’t be hard for a lawyer to connect the dots in court between (a) and (b). Employees who file complaints can be disciplined, but the supervisor better have the documentation in order before making the move.

Delayed internal investigations. When employees file complaints, they want them thoroughly investigated and they want it done now. If you can’t investigate immediately (because, for instance, a key player is on vacation), let the complaining employee know why and when the investigation is likely to begin.

Improper response to an EEOC charge. If you’re contacted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding an employee complaint, respond promptly and courteously – and treat the complaining employee courteously, too. If you’re tardy in your response or treat the employee like a leper, expect to hear about it in court.

Failing to follow your own policies. You can have the best policies and training in the world – and indeed some companies have used that as a defense against a complaint. But you better be able to show that your supervisors followed those policies and applied the training.

Bonus: How to lose a lawsuit
Getting sued is bad enough, but after a lawsuit is filed, employers can make the situation worse: Being unprepared for depositions, an inability to locate key documents and responding “I don’t remember” to questions about key events will sink you every time. All of that makes good record-keeping even more important.