Chiefs’ Counsel’s Corner
(continued)
of the investigation, as well as state that retaliation is strictly prohibited.
4. Trusted and Accessible Complaint Procedures
The EEOC’s agreement with Ford also required the company to complete investigation
training for all labor relations and salaried human resources personnel. If an employer has
provided such training, it can mention that in its charge response. Employers can also show
that their programs have designated HR professionals who specialize in handling
complaints and are trained to conduct prompt, thorough, and fair investigations. If those
individuals have received investigation training from a professional organization, an
employer can add that fact to its complaint response.
5. Regular, Interactive Training Tailored to the Audience and the Organization
The Ford-EEOC agreement also requires anti-harassment and mutual respect training for
all employees including both hourly and salaried employees. The training is required at new
hire orientations as well as on a biannual basis. These trainings must include a distribution
of the written anti-harassment policy and signed acknowledgement forms to ensure receipt.
Therefore, when responding to a charge, an employer may want to show (if applicable)
that the charging party received anti-harassment training at orientation and on a routine
basis, as well as include sign-in sheets (redacting the names of other employees) and signed
acknowledgement forms for the anti-harassment policies received for each training session
attended. The employer may also include specific training slides that (a) emphasize a zero-
tolerance policy on harassment, (b) instruct the employee to report to HR all instances of
offensive and unwelcome conduct, and (c) strictly prohibit retaliation.
When there is a risk of a systemic investigation, an employer can use the opportunity of the
charge response to highlight the company’s harassment prevention program and show that
its policies and practices reflect the EEOC’s harassment prevention program core
principles.
www.gachiefs.com • Page 27 • 1st Quarter Newsletter