Business Owners: Ways to Protect Yourself from Discrimination Complaints/Litigation

Discrimination is illegal. If you are a business owner, you are set up for discrimination accusations whether they are true or not. Your best defense against false accusations is to keep documentation of everything. Any comment, conversation, reprimand, or praise may be reason for your employee to accuse you of discrimination.

Your best defense against discrimination complaints or suits is to document everything. The same documentation may be used against you so be diligent and sincere in your efforts of honesty. Communication with any troubled employee, whether you are reprimanding someone or someone seems to have problems with relationships, should be in writing. Make sure you have a witness if the employee refuses to sign acknowledgment of the discussion or meeting.

The best time to protect yourself from problem employees is when you are hiring an employee. Have a full and detailed job description of the job you are hiring for. You need to be sure the interviewee is competent and can perform all tasks. If you need someone to lift 50 pounds and an 80 year old woman is applying for the job you specifically ask if she can lift 50 pounds on a continuous basis. Most people cannot lift 50 pounds safely on their own. If she cannot lift the weight, do not hire her. Write down she said she was not capable of doing a certain task. Do not rely on your memory. She can say you would not hire her based on age discrimination and if you have no reason for not hiring her, she will win.

You do not want a workman's comp suit brought against you. Be honest about the position because whoever you hire will eventually learn what they were hired for. It is best if the person is not capable of doing the job to find out before you waste time and money training the person or the person quits on you. Let people know what they are going to do so everyone involved can make an informed decision.

If someone needs accommodations to perform the job duties, you need to let them try the job or find a reason that you do not want to hire them. If the job is typing for three hours a day and the person can only sit half an hour at a time, but can do the job standing up, then you will need to accommodate them. If you feel they would not work the best for your company, have a reason written as to why you did not hire them. The reason cannot be due to accommodations or that would be discrimination. The reason can be that they did not type fast enough or their personality was not professional. Whatever the reason, be sure the reason is legitimate.

There are so many ways to discriminate against a person. Just as a rule of thumb, base your decision on whether the person is capable of doing the tasks of the position. You can also hire someone else that you feel is more qualified. Do not make any decisions until you have interviewed the person you are going to hire. That way you can honestly say you have not made any decisions yet or you have hired someone more qualified.

When reprimanding an employee always put it in writing. Give an employee three chances that are documented before letting them go. Be sure the employee initials showing he or she understands your policy and you have spoken with them.

Any time you speak to an employee, you may want witnesses. If witnesses are not available, resort to email. You will want proof that you did not say or do anything inappropriate.

As a former boss, my goal was to hire people that were stable and acted mature and professional. As a boss, it is sometimes hard to choose the perfect candidate. With these guidelines, you can at least keep yourself out of court and your reputation clean.