If a manager makes a mistake that could give the appearance of bias, it’s usually up to HR to correct it and clean up the mess. But as a recent case shows, even that might not be enough to keep the company out of court.
Here’s what happened:
An African-American woman complained to a company vice president after she got a negative performance review from her supervisor. The review meant she was ineligible for a merit-based raise, and she felt the manager was racially biased.
The VP chalked it up to a “serious personality conflict” between the two and advised the woman to build a better relationship with her boss. The employee then filed a charge with the EEOC.
Around the same time, the department was reorganized and another person took on most of the management duties. The new supervisor, under recommendation from HR, decided to give the woman a pay increase — and made it retroactive from the date of the bad review.
Did raise erase bias?
She continued with the suit anyway, and the case went before a judge. The company argued she suffered no loss — the mistake was corrected in full, so no harm was done.
The judge disagreed. He decided even a retroactive raise couldn’t erase the damage caused while the woman wasn’t receiving the extra income. And the company couldn’t be let off the hook just because it reversed its decision once the employee was ready to sue.
Too late to avoid liability
What’s the lesson for HR? Preventive medicine — i.e., training execs and managers to respond to complaints — is always the best option. In this case, the company missed its chance to make right, but things could’ve gone differently if it didn’t wait until the EEOC charge was filed.
It’s true that not all complaints are valid, but too many managers make decisions before seeking out all the facts — and without getting help from HR. With a thorough investigation, this company might have fixed the mistake before it was too late.
Cite: Crawford v. Carroll