Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in Louisiana

Re: False Sexual Harrassment

If you feel confident that you have investigated the case thoroughly, I would suggest that you report your findings to the temp agency and close your books on it, retaining your file. If the supervisor feels that he wants to pursue it further, he could consider a lawsuit against the individual for libel/slander. You may want to reconsider who you use for temp labor from now on.

Re: False Sexual Harrassment

You need to be very careful in how you handle this situation. You are, of course, free to discharge persons for any reason at all (as long as they are at-will employees, which I'm sure this person is), so if you know that the claim is false, you can terminate this employee. The problem is that if you do that, or take any negative action, you are most likely going to get hit with a retaliation lawsuit. In addition, you should also do a very thorough investigation to make sure that there is no merit to the claim. Has the accussed ever been accussed of this behavior before? Has this alleged victim ever made allegations like this before? Was the alleged victim having performance problems that could be shown as a motive for a false report? There are numerous question that need to be asked and answered and the answers and particular facts of this case should drive your response. Remember, once a complaint is received, you have a DUTY to conduct an investigation (which it sounds like you have) and take whatever action is necessary to stop the conduct if it is indeed happening. It may be that the alleged victim was mistaken in what she perceived - if that is the case, then any adverse action against her could be construed as retaliation. There are other legal questions that could determine other appropriate responses as well. You should probably consult an attorney.