Every company’s got ’em: chronic complainers. But when the complaints deal with discrimination, employers need to tread carefully. What can they do without risking a lawsuit?
That question came up in a recent case in which a company was sued for national origin discrimination.
An employee filed several complaints with the HR department, claiming that white employers were getting better treatment than he was. He claimed he was being disciplined for breaking rules that non-Hispanic employees were allowed to violate without consequences.
So the HR manager looked into the issue, spoke with managers about consistency and determined the issue was resolved.
But the complaints continued even after other investigations found that there was no longer a problem. So HR sent the employee a letter asking him to stop reiterating previous complaints that had been resolved and requiring him to schedule appointments in the future if he wanted to talk to HR.
Evidence of discrimination?
Eventually, he was fired for sleeping on the job. But he thought it was discrimination and sued. As evidence, he relied mainly on the way he was treated after making his complaints.
But the judge didn’t buy it. The court ruled that the company had done enough to deal with the complaints and was reasonable for wanting to end the discussion of past incidents. Things would have been different if the company never told him he wasn’t allowed to bring other complaints in the future.
Also, the company had a legitimate reason to fire him – along with documented statements from co-workers who saw him sleeping.
Cite: Soto v. Core-Mark International
