Privacy, Business and Law

Employees of technology-based companies tend to be relatively young, and these companies usually shy away from strict, hierarchical management structures. It is easy for executives of these companies to have a false sense of security when it comes to discrimination and harassment problems. The typical harassment scenario of the stuffy, older male executive “hitting on” his young female secretary seems impossible in the hip, high-tech world.

It is probably true that emerging growth companies have fewer conventional discrimination or harassment problems than more mature companies, but that most definitely does not mean that these companies can afford to ignore the issue. Under the current state of the law, discrimination can involve much more subtle situations than, for example, the termination of an employee due to his race, and harassment can include such seemingly innocuous things as an employee who keeps asking a co-worker out on a date after she turns him down.

Although most emerging growth companies are successful at instilling a sense of camaraderie among their employees, often these companies have groups of younger employees with similar interests and values, working long hours together. The result is not hard to predict. There is frequent dating between co-workers, and between managers and employees. Unfortunately, every workplace romance that goes sour carries with it the serious possibility of a harassment claim. The informal atmosphere in most of these companies can also lead to “hostile environment” harassment claims. For example, a harassment claim can start with an employee offended when a purportedly humorous e-mail is circulated, or when an office mate calls him over to look at an “adult” website he has found while net surfing. In addition, illegal “harassment” includes much more than just sexual harassment; offensive conduct based on an individual’s age, race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or even marital status can lead to liability just as surely as sexual harassment.

The good news is that preventive measures really do work. Companies that not only adopt and publicize strict policies against discrimination and harassment, but also make those policies part of training for new and existing employees will see a much lower incidence of claims of discrimination and harassment. The policies should define harassment and discrimination using practical examples and should make it clear that employees who violate the policy will be disciplined. In addition, a reporting mechanism should be set up, so that employees have a range of managers to whom they can go with a complaint. Most importantly, managers must be trained on how to deal with discrimination and harassment complaints. Under recent decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court, the company will almost certainly be legally responsible for what a manager does or, more likely, does not do when he or she learns of discrimination or harassment.

The costs of dealing with a lawsuit alleging discrimination and/or harassment are staggering. The legal fees and court costs of defending such a claim through trial can easily reach six figures, and the disruption in the workplace can be significant as lawyers take depositions of co-workers, and managers are forced to spend substantial time compiling documents and participating in discovery activities and trial. Needless to say, the incendiary allegations in a discrimination/harassment case create almost unlimited exposure at trial, and can create embarrassing publicity for public or soon-to-be-public companies.

by Dan Weisberg “10 Mistakes Technology Companies Make With Employees”