JH
Date: September 25, 2013

Case 11: Investigating a Sexual Harassment Case

Step 1: HR Problem Identification
Mary Booth, a SenGlas Company Shipping Coordinator, came to the HR Manager James Tilden and said she wanted to file a formal complaint against one of her coworkers for his harassing behavior. The coworker, Bob Simonsky, had made false accusations about Mary to Ginny Miller, revved his forklift engine and drove straight at Mary while laughing and slammed the metal forks of his fork-lift on the ground in an intimidating manner. In addition, he continuously refused to take directions from Mary about which trucks to load or unload, twice had thrown a cigarette butt at her and regularly tore up instructions she left for him.

Two other fork lift drivers, John Griffin and Henry Jackson, had overheard Simonsky say that women did not belong in the warehouse area and that he preferred working with men and the he had told another worker, Henry Mueller, that “Booth had f***** with the wrong person and that when he got through with her not even Jesus Christ himself would be able to save her.” When Mary first started in the position as Shipping Coordinator, Simonsky had told her, “I hate that maggot”, referring to Sally Jenkins, the previous Shipping Coordinator, “I should have killed her when I had the chance.”

Step 2: Identify Cause(s) of HR Problem
First, James Tilden reads up on the current Sexual Harassment Policy. It states “all employees are entitled to work in an environment free from sexual harassment and a hostile or offensive working environment.” Second, he should check with Mary’s supervisor to see if she has reported any of these incidents. The policy is pretty clear that incidents should be reported immediately. Third, James should check to see what type of training the company regularly engages in regarding harassment, bullying, diversity, etc. He should also check both Mary’s and Bob’s files to see if either have previous Employee Action notices for this same thing or something similar.

Step 3: Potential Solutions to HR Problem
Quietly and confidentially investigate the complaint by speaking to every single witness. Disregard any heresy. Schedule Diversity/Harassment training and make it mandatory that all employees attend. Meet with Mary’s supervisor to discuss potential solutions to getting her some supervisory training and pending the results of the investigation, schedule a meeting for discussion of possible disciplinary action.

Step 4: Best Solution to HR Problem
All of the above

Steps to Implementing Best Solution: James should investigate and then decide any further steps to be taken with input from Mary’s supervisor, since by extension, he is also Bob’s supervisor. Things to discuss would include a Plan of Action for Mary’s supervisory training and another POA for any possible disciplinary response as a result of the investigation. Then James should discuss with the CEO about appointing a Diversity Committee made up of a few employees and a few supervisors, led by an HR team member. They could meet once a quarter to go over which training videos to present to employees and rotate out every six months to a year.