I am the HR Manager and I am writing regarding a legal case involving three employees in the firm; two gentlemen and a lady. In my current position, I can confirm that I have a concise understanding of the legal and ethical matters aligned to the employees. In this regard, I have been able to deal perfectly with any discrimination and harassment complaints arising within the firm, either between employees and fellow employees or between senior employees and their subordinates.
However, there is this recent case that has proved to be the most complicated of all the many employee-related cases that I have dealt with in my life. I am kindly seeking your advice regarding the legality of my plans on the case. Following is a report explaining the factual scenario of the case, together with my course of action.
In this case, Debbie, a senior officer in the claims department, is not convinced to withdraw a blog she had published on the internet about sexual harassment in the company, claiming that this was the gentlest manner to justify the facts surrounding the claims. These are serious claims which could deal a real blow to the company’s reputation, in case they happen to spill out into the public arena. However, a complaint which had earlier on been raised by Mr. Tom, who works in the company’s call center, had fuelled the whole issue, resulting in the current situation. Kindly note that my final judgment on the case, as addressed in the following paragraphs comes from the findings of a posthumous investigation that was carried out, to unveil the truth surrounding the case.
Both Tom and Debbie, just like any other employee in the firm, have a right to be protected from any form of sexual harassment and intimidation, as it is required by the law. However, the outcome surrounding the investigations had unfurled to several other possibilities which have coerced me to believe that both may have colluded to bring down the manager allegedly said to have executed the abuse. I just can’t understand why Debbie, who claims to be the first victim here, would remain silent on the alleged claims until her colleague Tom pesters her to come forward and support him on his claims against the manager.
More importantly, investigation of the case shows Debbie to be the center of a couple of phonographic pictures that have made rounds in the company. This comes irrespective of the fact that it is against the firm’s policies for employees to download, retrieve, or even discharge such material within the premises. Surprisingly, the suspected call manager is also among those who had received the phonographic pictures from her.
When questioned about having sent the pictures to the manager, Debbie observes that she had done so following the manager’s request and such is the case with anyone else who had received the pictures. The investigations had also revealed that both Tom and Debbie were having some kind of personal relationship, something which Debbie went on to deny completely, asserting that her relationship with Tom was nothing beyond a normal job-related affair.
Even though Debbie claims on her blog that she has two signed statements on her behalf from her colleagues, this is not enough to clear her from my suspicion that she could have instigated everything. This leaves me no other option but to declare the claims unsubstantiated, for lack of enough evidence to nail the manager.
Based on the above findings, the best course of action within the law that the company would take against Debbie is to suspend her temporarily, to pave way for further investigations on the case. Besides, Debbie is already guilty for having breached the company’s policy about the handling of phonographic photographs, among other sexually explicit materials and stuff. I can assure you that, I would ensure that justice takes its course against those who may be found guilty of violating the rights of employees in any manner, no matter their job positions in the firm. In this regard, I am kindly asking for your legal advice regarding my course of action on the case as per the above revelations. Thank you in advance.