Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in New Hampshire

Dropping a harassment complaint

Yesterday - An employee goes to her department head and reports feeling harassed by a co-worker whom she was training. She said she didn't want to ''make a big deal'' of it, but wanted it documented. No really blatant sexual stuff, no touching, just comments that made her uncomfortable. Department head reports the above to me (operations manager) and I tell him that we need to start the investigative process and I start documenting everything in preparation.

Today - The complainant, realizing that once the door is opened, the company is obligated to go through a process, goes back to her manager, wanting to drop the whole thing. No pressure was brought on her, just the explanation that there is an investigative process the company is obligated to follow.

Question - Can we drop the thing at her request, or are we putting the company at risk by not going through the whole investigative process and any follow-up actions?

Thanks - tough situation.


Asked on 5/23/07, 2:59 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Evan Fray-Witzer Law Office of Evan Fray-Witzer

Re: Dropping a harassment complaint

Ah. What a great question. My answer is - you do the investigation anyway for any number of reasons: (1) it protects the company if the complainant decides later that an investigation should have been done; (2) the company should want to know if it has a problem brewing; and (3) the company wants to take corrective action (if any such action is warranted). This is one of those situations where the (potential) downsides of not investigating far outweigh the minimal cost savings.

Good luck

Evan

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Answered on 5/23/07, 3:13 pm
Regina Mullen Legal Data Services, PLC

Re: Dropping a harassment complaint

Yes and yes.

Yes, the company is in a tough situation, because if the matter is dropped and it comes back later, it will not be seen in the way it is today.

Yes, the company can take a stand and simply declare that once the company knows of a situation as a policy decision, it won't be dropped precisely BECAUSE people are often pressured after the fact.

This is the sort of thing that has to be decided as a matter of company policy, but you're right, this is a tough situation.

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Answered on 5/23/07, 4:09 pm


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