Steps to Avoid Discrimination

In the last 11 years or so, the United States Supreme Court has decided a number of cases relating to discrimination in employment. These cases have all had holdings and rules that can be applied to any company or corporation that seeks to avoid discrimination litigation.

The three cases that were most important in their decisions were Burlington Indus. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998), Faragher v. Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998), and Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders, 124 S. Ct. 2342 (2004). Ellerth, Faragher, and Suders' rulings, when applied in practical terms, create a number of steps that any employer should take.

The first step to be taken by any employer is to adopt a policy against sexual and other forms of harassment. This policy should be complete with a complaint procedure that allows any employee to skip over his or her immediate supervisor and any others in the supervisory chain of command to make a complaint. This combats the possibility that one of the people in the chain of command is the source of discrimination and makes it more likely for the complaint to be addressed fairly.

Second, the policy, once it is developed, should of course be distributed to all employees in a way that nearly guarantees that all employees are aware of the policies that exist regarding harassment and discrimination. One way to do this is to have employees sign a receipt saying they were given a copy of the policy.

Third, control and supervision should be maintained over any employees that are not located in the headquarters. Fourth, regularly scheduled harassment training seminars should be in place for all managers and employees.

The most important thing to do is respond to complaints of harassment and discrimination promptly and vigorously. Conducting an investigation that is fair, comprehensive, and impartial for each allegation will go far to ensure that employees understand how serious the company takes discrimination and harassment. This is also an excellent way to show that an employer should not be held responsible for the employee's actions since he or she clearly did not condone the behavior. If it is necessary, disciplining the harassing or discriminating employee should be part of the process.

Contact a Houston Employment Attorney

If you have been the victim of harassment or discrimination in the workplace, contact the Houston employment attorneys of the Ross Law Group at 713-482-6910.