Sexual Harassment-Final Investigative Report
Introduction
Sexual harassment is a major concern in many societies. The allegations presented occurred in a diabetic clinic after Maggie Connelly came forward to the facility manager over sexual harassment complaints. Maggie Connelly claimed that a coworker named William Peterson had stopped in her station to make sex jokes. Connelly reported that she was uncomfortable with William’s actions. She added that she did not want to work around William anymore. The manager, Tim Jorgenson, resolved to apply a couple of complementary solutions. He spoke with Williams and asked him to respect Connelly and avoid being in the same room with her. Also, Jorgen implemented training sessions for his entire staff that included awareness and specifics about harassments. However, before Jorgenson could apply the training, Connelly reported another instance of sexual harassment that claimed that Peterson grabbed her butt.
Allegations
Jorgenson had received complaints before Connelly’s claims. Her coworkers complained about her detailed sharing of her sex life. One of the coworkers reported that Connelly openly joked and shared the details of her dates and the night before. Also, the coworkers expressed discomfort around Connelly’s sex stories. After these allegations, Connelly complained about William, who was the only male clerk working in the clinic area. William was Jorgenson’s most valued staff because of his charismatic character. He was well-liked by everyone, and he loved to visit and joked with his coworkers. Connelly complained that William made him uncomfortable stopping at her station and making sex jokes. She added that William behaved the same when they are in the break room together or other areas of the clinic when no one is around. Jorgenson took a keen interest in the case and asked Connelly for the way forward. Connelly asked Jorgenson to get rid of William around her working area.
Investigations
According to Jorgenson, William Peterson was an example of his most valued staff. William was friendly and well-liked; thus, Jorgenson wished that all his employees could adopt his initiative. When Connelly came forward with her allegation, Jorgenson was shocked because William had not behaved like that in front of him. Besides, Connelly’s female workers had come forward to report discomfort around her casual jokes about sex. Jorgenson was aware, but he resolved not to take action because the whole endocrinology tram was going to move to a new building; thus, Connelly would no longer work directly with that team. The Inappropriate interaction may have occurred because the Diabetes staff was a growing challenge. Jorgenson has already noticed that the crew lacked camaraderie and teamwork. Also, Jorgenson was new to medical managing, and he lacked clinical experience. Jorgenson was not equipped to make the right decisions when Connelly approached him. His lack of understanding of the employee needs when dealing with sexual harassment issues led him to avoid taking appropriate actions that ratcheting up the tension.
Before the incident, Jorgenson had concerns about interpersonal issues. Most of the employees were concerned about each other’s habits rather than their own. Connelly’s allegations were ironic because she projected similar behavior towards her colleagues. Connelly openly made sex jokes that made her coworkers uncomfortable. However, the situation escalated when William behaved the same around her and made her uncomfortable. Discovering work problems is the first step towards investigations. Research by Guerin (2016) shows that when an organization identifies a problem in the workplace, it is their legal duty to investigate and resolve before taking action (Diplo and Guerin, 2019). Also, if the organization ignores misconduct, the productivity and the morale of the employees can drop.
In this scenario, Jorgenson’s identified the problem, but she did not conduct investigations. The necessary protocol would have required him to present the issues to the human resource professional. Jorgenson took the matter in his own hands to conduct the investigation and solve the problem. Managers are often the eyes and ears of a company because they are placed at the front lines of developing situations (Remick et al., 2006). However, not all workplace problems require investigations. Deciding whether a problem should be investigated depends on the seriousness of the alleged dispute. Also, if similar complains have happened before, the manager is obligated to conduct investigations. In this scenario, Jorgenson listened to Connelly’s allegations despite the irony of the occurrence. In the first report, Comely told the manager that she did not want to work in the same environment with William. William conducted a discussion with Connelly and Peterson separately. He asked Connelly about what she wanted him to do. Connelly wanted Peterson to stop bothering her, but she did not want him fired. The discussion with Peterson indicated that he was surprised at the allegations because he considered their interactions as friendly chats. Peterson assumed that he had a good relationship with Connelly. Jorgenson urged Peterson to be respectful towards Connell and avoid being alone with her to protect himself from future allegations.
Jorgenson decided to talk to Peterson to warn him and ask him to protect himself from Connelly. Also, he resolved to pursue training for his entire staff on the specifics of harassment. The harassment training would include the policies, rights, documentation process, and other vital concerns. Jorgenson resolved to include communication training because he found that some of the problems at the workplace were a result of poor communication skills. For instance, Peterson had not realized that his actions towards Connelly were offensive. However, Jorgenson was not thorough with his investigations because the discussion conducted was sloppy. He failed to conduct interviews, and he was unable to review relevant documents. Research shows that failing to conduct thorough investigations can result in negative consequences such as repetition of the misconduct (Remick et al., 2006). As he was preparing the training outline, Connelly reported another allegation claiming that Peterson had touched her inappropriately.
Harassment cases require legal approach and documentation. Jorgenson was new to the managing job; thus, he was nervous in his decisions. He wanted to keep his employees, and he avoided taking steps that would jeopardize his intentions. His approach led to further allegations and escalations. Case escalation can lead to lawsuits and wrongful discrimination (Harrington and Lonsway, 2006). Connelly’s allegations of Peterson grabbing her butt may require results on investigation court. Presenting a case to a jury without adequate documents and investigation will cause the jury to wonder where Jorgenson is hiding deeper problems (Buchanan et al, 2016). Jorgenson asked Peterson to avoid being alone with Connelly to protect himself. His approach was not right because the advice will only create constraints in the workplace (Dorfman et al., 2000). Everyone at the workplace has the right to move freely and to interact harmoniously. Jorgenson should have conducted thorough investigation and compiled legal documents to justify his decisions regarding the allegations.
References
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