An allegation of workplace discrimination can have a profound impact on your business, threatening you with a costly judgment and damaging your business’s reputation. As worrisome as that may be, there are things that you can do to protect your business to prevent workplace discrimination claims from arising in the first place and to defend against claims once they’re made.
Implement preventative measures
One way to insulate yourself from claims of workplace discrimination is to be proactive in portraying your stance on anti-discrimination practices and ensuring that employees are adequately trained. This means creating employee handbooks and policies that speak directly to state and federal law, and implementing continuing training on what discrimination looks like, how to avoid it, and how it should be reported.
Defending against workplace discrimination claims
There are several ways that you can approach a workplace discrimination defense. To start, you might be able to show that your motivations for taking were non-discriminatory, such as basing a termination on poor employee performance or foregoing a job candidate because he or she lacked the requisite experience. Another option is to show that policies that are alleged to have been applied in a discriminatory fashion are necessary for the job at hand and further a legitimate business interest. One of the best things you can do to position yourself for success in these cases is to have thorough employment records that support and justify your position.
Leave nothing to chance
There’s usually a lot at stake in workplace discrimination cases. That’s why you should be as proactive as possible in avoiding the issue and defending yourself and your business when allegations are made. An attorney who is experienced in employment law can help assess you situation and guide you so that you’re leaving nothing to chance and are protecting yourself as aggressively as possible.