Workplace Investigation Steps

A member of Western Home Designs management received three different complaints from female employees who complained that they had been sexually harassed. Each woman claimed that John Doe was the harasser. Here are the steps that Western Home Designs management followed:

1. Management provided each of the women with a Harassment Complaint Form to fill out and sign.
2. Management contacted their HR department and asked for an HR representative to investigate the Harassment complaint.
3. Amy Miller, an HR representative of Western Home Designs, immediately began investigating the harassment claim.
4. Amy Miller interviewed 10 employees.
• 3 women claiming to be harassed
• 7 other employees who may have been a witness of the harassment claims (based on location and time of incidents)
• She met with each individual separately and asked open-ended questions to get as much information as possible. She focused on drawing out the facts, not opinions, from their responses. She took notes to document the questions she asked and the answers she was provided. She gave each individual her direct line and asked them to contact her if they remember anything they didn’t mention in the interview or just want to talk more about the incident.
5. Amy Miller met with John Doe to inform him about the claims of sexual harassment. She explained the incident to him and allowed him to give his side of the story.
6. Amy Miller met with the 3 most important witnesses to gain more information that they may have after hearing the claimed “harassers” side of the incident. She finalized their documented statements and had each witness sign their statement. She then met with John Doe to finalize and sign his documented statement.
7. Amy Miller gathered all of her notes and statements to finalize the documented details of the incident. The details gathered from the incident allowed the conclusion, with great reason, that John Doe had committed sexual harassment. John Doe’s employment was terminated because he sexually harassed other employees. Western Home Designs has a zero tolerance Harassment Policy.