It can be nerve racking when faced with discrimination complaints in the workplace. If not handled correctly, it can lead to tension, legal issues and even government investigations.

As an employer or HR manager, you can reduce your legal risk by handling discrimination complaints quickly and carefully. Having a strategy put in place will set up a guideline for dealing with complaints professionally, reduce legal risk and possibly improve interpersonal relationships. Here are a few basic guidelines on how to deal with discrimination complaints in the workplace.

Be Respectful and Compassionate

When an employee comes to complain about something as serious as discrimination, they are in a vulnerable place. Often it takes multiple times before they can build up the courage to report it. It is easy to take such complaints with a grain of salt, or immediately start questioning the employee on the accuracy of the complaint. This will only make the situation worse. Keep in mind how intimidating it is to discuss being discriminated against. As the authority figure, it is your job to remain respectful and compassionate while obtaining complaints from employees. Acting out in any other way will only make the issue bigger and harder to manage.

Act Immediately

Such serious complaints are like a ticking time bomb… the longer you wait to act, the harder it will be to undo the damage. When an employee comes to you with a discrimination complaint, it is important that you act immediately. Do not put it off or ignore the issue, the best form of action is to start by writing everything down. Take a statement from the complainer and interview the accused parties involved. If you have procedures set in place in your employee handbook, follow them completely. Do not bend rules, as it can come back to you in the form of legal action.

Use All Resources

One of the main issues with discrimination complaints is that it is often a matter of “he said, she said”. Both parties involved have different stories, and it can be difficult to know which story is more accurate. This is when you need to look outside the box and utilize all resources. Look at time cards, security cameras, schedules, emails, phone logs and any possibly witnesses. Search for any contradictions or falsified statements in the story.

Confidentiality is Key

While investigating the complaint, keep all your findings confidential. Nobody needs to know what your findings are before the investigation is concluded. The less people involved in the details the better. Even after the investigation has been concluded, the only people that need to be involved in the results are the employer, HR manager, accused and accuser. At this point you can discuss what actions will be taken, and with whom, moving forward.

Take Appropriate Action

Once all the information has been collected, it is time to determine what you think really happened based on the facts. If it has been decided that some sort of discrimination has taken place, follow appropriate protocols for how to properly discipline wrongdoers. Depending on the seriousness of the discrimination (physical contact, threats, etc.), termination may be warranted. Lesser offenses (misunderstanding, poor wording) may warrant a counseling session, warning or write up.

Whatever the issue, discrimination complaints are serious and need to be handled as such. Reduce legal risk and build trust within the workplace by handling discrimination complaints carefully and quickly.