Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in New York
Malicious Complaint Against a Supervisor
A woman i supervise has filed a complaints against me
for secual harrassment and harrassment. She knows
she will recieve an unsatisfactory evaluation from me at
the end of this year, and I believe that the complaints
are in retaliation. I have never made a sexua advance
toward her. When other staff members made sexual
jokes, she joined in. She never once made any
statement that she felt offended by anything anyone
said.
In addition, she has convinced another employee to
join in the complaint with her. This employee also
never stated that any comments made by me or any
other staff member offended her.
How can I defend myself against this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Malicious Complaint Against a Supervisor
All you can do as a supervisor is to play it straight. Give her your honest evaluation, supported as best you can by specific instances that confirm your assessment.
Your company should not leave you out there alone on this. You should have legal representation in the event that the employee commences a legal action, and the Human Resources Department should be papering the file in preparation for what looks to be a preemptive strike by an unsatisfactory employee to save her job.
Human Resources should interview the colleagues with whom the complainant enjoyed those jokes, and attempt to identify those who might corroborate her story.
Sex harassment allegations can, as you know, be dangerous. Pretextual ones can usually be sniffed out and defeated by timely, diligent work.
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