Many companies use a “three strikes” policy for dealing with employee misconduct. But as a recent case shows, that’s not the best solution in some situations.
An employee complained to her supervisor that a co-worker had been sexually harassing her. The allegations were pretty severe: The woman claimed he consistently made sexual comments, touched her inappropriately and asked her to view pornography on his office computer.
The company suspended the co-worker and investigated. The conclusion: All the allegations were true. The man was suspended without pay and warned that he’d be fired if the conduct continued.
But the harassment didn’t stop and the woman complained again. The co-worker was suspended and warned a second time.
After that, the employee quit and sued the company for failing to put a stop to the harassment.
The company argued that it took appropriate disciplinary action in response to her complaints. But the judge didn’t buy it.
Two complaints should have been enough for the co-worker to lose his job. The woman testified that she was no longer comfortable coming to work with him around, and the company’s actions didn’t convince him to change his behavior.
What’s the best way to handle employees who’ve been accused of sexual harassment? There’s no easy answer. But the courts look to see if the company does something that could reasonably be expected to stop the harassment.
In this case, the company’s empty threats weren’t enough.
Cite: Engel v. Rapid City School District
