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Ask HN: How do I deal with the first sexual harassment complaint at my startup?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I deal with the first sexual harassment complaint at my startup?

#241

Post by rhino369 »

everly wrote: post #84

It's baffling/hilarious/concerning to me that there are multiple commenters saying they're not able to see the harassment and asking for clarification.

Legally this isn't enough to create sexual harassment liability. A one off comment typically doesn't create a hostile work environment. But many one-off comments over a period of time does. So while it isn't sexual harassment yet, if the OP doesn't take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again, he could be facing liability for future actions.

unless there is a quid pro quo element.

Re: Ask HN: How do I deal with the first sexual harassment complaint at my startup?

#242

Post by VLM »

whatok wrote: post #30

Any ideas why your employee brought it up to you (management) but does not want you (management) to do anything about it?

Totally free blue sky daydreaming?

1) There's a pre-existing dysfunctional relationship, and she wants him in trouble but doesn't want to get caught setting him up or not telling the whole truth. Aside from obvious romantic relationship, might have been professional, perhaps a grudge developed at a previous employer. Or even school rivalry. Or something more tenuous like he cheated on her roommate making her roommate cry so she feels justified... Good luck discretely figuring this out without being declared a victim-blamer. Your lawyer will help.

2) They're teaming up to siphon off money/stock/something by submitting a lawsuit next week for either wrongful dismissal and libel/slander (depending on what you say to the guy, if anything) or for sexual harassment from her end. Your lawyer will help.

3) See #1 above, it might be the dude who has a grudge with someone else at the company (the other founder?) and is hoping to mess with that 3rd party and you're just kinda in the way. Your lawyer will help.

Re: Ask HN: How do I deal with the first sexual harassment complaint at my startup?

#243

Post by rhino369 »

logfromblammo wrote: post #128

From a legal standpoint, you need do nothing. He is not in any position to commit quid pro quo harassment. So far, there is no evidence of hostile workplace. What your female employee has done is to cover her own ass in case the new male employee engages in any work-inappropriate behavior. If she comes to you again, and claims harassment, you are primed to believe her immediately and take immediate, appropriate actio…

>So far, there is no evidence of hostile workplace.

Other than the fact a female employee just told him about hostile comments?

I agree that it's probably not a hostile workplace YET, but it could quickly become that. And since he's aware of it, he'll be liable for future conduct of the male.

Re: Ask HN: How do I deal with the first sexual harassment complaint at my startup?

#244

Post by [deleted] »

Mz wrote: post #174

So, I am female. When working at a Fortune 500 company, I once emailed a colleague and copied our two bosses. I advised him to never speak that way to me again. It went to HR. I got interviewed. I assume he got interviewed. He was not fired. He never spoke that way to me again. I eventually reestablished trust with this man and we got on well. I suspect he got sensitivity training. I was not told what went down. It w…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How do I deal with the first sexual harassment complaint at my startup?

#245

Post by d4rkph1b3r »

This guy should be fired both for harassment and incompetence. First of all, this guy is supposed to be biz dev. We are not talking about a rude comment by an engineer, people skills and sensitivity/understanding of business etiquette is part of his job. Two, this is not a "faux pas". He did not say "your dress looks hot" or "will you go out with me" or any number of less than polite come ons that people use outside of a work context. Instead he made an explicit comment to someone he barely knows. This shows clear lack of judgement.

Re: Ask HN: How do I deal with the first sexual harassment complaint at my startup?

#246

Post by ChrisDutrow »

As someone who's done a lot of hiring and firing, the part that stands out most to me is not the sexual harassment part, but the fact that he was just hired and already is causing problems.

Normal people tend to be cautious and respectful at first. By immidiately jumping in and pushing boundaries, this person is demonstrating that he doesn't care about your company, he doesn't care what you or anybody there thinks about him, and he doesn't care if he breaks things and gets fired.

I would fire him as soon as I could without the lawyers getting up in arms. People like this tend to be very destructive. The smart ones will wreak havoc in your organization for years before you figure it out.

Re: Ask HN: How do I deal with the first sexual harassment complaint at my startup?

#247

Post by jomamaxx »

Write it all down, consult a lawyer. Have a heart to heart with the guy and assess whether he just didn't understand or is a true creep. Let him know it doesn't fly and that you'll be keeping an eye on him, talk to the girl make sure she's cool with it.

Adults, move on.

All of you 'fire' 'lawyer' 'criminal' people are ridiculous.

It's a single word, out of work.

Imagine if two employees are dating. They are staying in each others flats. They get in a fight at work. Words are spoken. Is that harassment?

We are human before we are corporate warriors. We say and do odd things.

If you are a human leader you'll be able to handle the situation without a single thought moving forward.

Though I'd recommend putting it all in writing and documenting everything for legal purposes.

If you are a good leader, this thing will never bubble up again.

You have a product to build, focus on that.

Re: Ask HN: How do I deal with the first sexual harassment complaint at my startup?

#248

Post by Karunamon »

trebor wrote: post #91
patio11 wrote: post #3

Lawyer lawyer lawyer LAWYER lawyer LAWYER . I think the consensus in the grown-up business world is "fire immediately for cause." I would bet substantial money that when you lawyer lawyer lawyer they will advise you to do that and document the heck out of it. The calculus is really, really simple: if you don't, then you will with probability approaching one get this incident or a similar incident cited during a threa…

The only thing I would add to patio11's advice is to go back to the employee and let her know what's about to happen. If you do it without any warning, then yes she might feel that it was a breach of trust. But, if you tell her before you fire the guy you can maintain trust.

This. Do not make this person feel as if you did the one thing they precisely didn't want you to do. Doing so means future incidents (of any sort - people don't like to talk to betrayers) are unlikely to be reported at best.

Earlier advice regarding lawyer up, for gods sakes still applies, but you now have a human obligation to the person who reported this in confidence.

Re: Ask HN: How do I deal with the first sexual harassment complaint at my startup?

#250

Post by harryh »

tptacek wrote: post #239
harryh wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are actually some legal gradients here. You are right that the OP almost certainly employs the BizDev guy as an at-will employee and can hence fire him at any time for no reason at all. However, if he is fired for cause ("Mr BizDev guy. You are being fired because you sexually harassed Jane Smith.") instead of just fired without a reason ("Mr BizDev guy. Your services are no longer needed here. Thank you for yo…

I'm going to keep prodding. I, too, think the "with cause" thing doesn't add much to the solution to the problem --- if only because it just adds drama. But you can fire someone for cause, be wrong about the cause, and that termination can still be lawful. Can you be more specific about the recourse the terminated person would have in this situation?

OK first off I will 100% admit that I am not an expert in this area and hence could be wrong (going back to the previously agreed upon advice that "Lawyer up" is clearly the right thing to do).

That having been said, I have received training, by a lawyer, about how to manage situations in which a sexual harassment claim has been made. In that training I was told that the accused employee has a right to hear and respond to the claims. Further if you punish them before giving them that chance you could be opening the company up to liability. Especially if you specifically fire them for harassment.

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