Uber made headlines last week when Susan Fowler, a former engineer, claimed that she was harassed by her direct supervisor and her complaints were ignored by the human resources department. Uber took another hit a few days later when a recently-hired executive resigned amidst allegations that he had harassed employees at his former company.
How can you prevent your company from becoming the next media story?
There are several takeaways from the Uber incidents:
- Distribute a written policy prohibiting harassment based on sex and other protected categories. The policy should clearly explain the legal definition of harassment, provide examples of conduct deemed offensive, provide alternative avenues for an employee to lodge a complaint, explain the investigation process, and promise absolute protection against retaliation for good faith complaints of harassment.
- Provide harassment prevention training at regular intervals. Not only is such training crucial to ensuring that employees understand their rights and obligations, but it also may provide an affirmative defense if an employee sues after failing to make an internal complaint.
- Train supervisors on their responsibilities to lead by example. Supervisors need to be taught how to recognize harassment and what to do if they witness or receive a complaint about inappropriate conduct in the workplace.
- Take all complaints of harassment seriously and perform a prompt and thorough investigation. Analyze emails and text messages as part of your investigation. Ms. Fowler said that the multiple emails that she forwarded to HR were ignored. Electronic communications can assist HR departments in determining what really happened in what sometimes can be a “he said/she said” situation.
- Take corrective action if appropriate, even if it is the first offense. According to Ms. Fowler, Uber didn’t take her complaint seriously because her supervisor was a “high performer.” Ensure that your evaluation metrics take into account professional behavior in addition to job performance.
- Never forget that diversity matters. Ms. Fowler emphasized the low number of women on her team and in the company in general. Promoting diversity based on gender, race, ethnicity and other categories helps to ensure that all voices are heard.
- Take a hard look at your hiring practices. When performing background and reference checks, dig into information about previous claims against the prospective employee for workplace misconduct. Keep in mind, however, that certain federal and state laws may govern your company’s ability to gather this type of information.
- Finally, never forget the power of the Internet. Ms. Fowler’s story gained immediate national attention after she published a detailed essay on her personal blog. While the Internet is a powerful place to promote your brand, this is not the sort of publicity most companies would like to see.