Workplace Investigations

Prevent lawsuits and boost productivity.

Maier Law Group offers something unique in the workplace investigations realm: we know who to talk to and what to ask so employers are not only protected legally, but also gain understanding of latent workplace issues and concerns before they become full-scale conflicts or undermine company culture. We conduct investigations in English and Spanish.

WHEN INVESTIGATIONS ARE NEEDED IN THE WORKPLACE

Companies conduct workplace investigations when an employee makes a complaint of any kind, particularly when the allegations include illegal behavior such as sexual harassment, retaliation, or age and race discrimination. Often, a company will decide to hire an external investigator for a variety of reasons, including to avoid an appearance of, or actual bias by, its internal investigator. A good investigator should be as unbiased as humanly possible in fact-gathering, seriously considering the employee’s allegations, while also not assuming them to be true unless evidence supports them (thereby giving due process to the accused, while also honoring the complainant). An effective investigator does not flinch in identifying facts that could suggest liability for the employer while also identifying situations where the complainant’s allegations lack evidence. For an investigator to retain credibility, she must be even-handed in her approach to substantiating allegations: sometimes finding them to be true, and sometimes finding them to lack merit.

The attorneys at the Maier Law Group are uniquely positioned as effective investigators for several reasons. We are all experienced litigators who know how to effectively question witnesses about key information. We are also well trained in the essential skill of establishing rapport and trust with witnesses so that they feel heard and understood, and so that the information they provide is reliable and trustworthy. We have both plaintiff and defense side experience in our ranks, making our findings less prone to claims of bias by either side if challenged in court. We conduct investigations in Spanish and English. We are very experienced, and know how to ensure a company’s compliance with California and federal requirements for completing a prompt, impartial, and thorough investigation.

WORKPLACE INVESTIGATION ADVANTAGES

The advantages of an investigation are many:

• Investigations are considered a baseline step for employers to comply with their legal obligation to prevent discrimination under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.

• A thorough investigation helps an employer avoid liability by demonstrating that it took an employee’s complaint seriously.

• Investigations help an employer get a handle on facts that underlie a potential lawsuit, allowing the company to determine if the matter should settle and in what amount.

• Perhaps most importantly, even when an investigator concludes that the complaining witness’s assertions aren’t supported by the evidence, an investigator will often discover brewing issues or even non-related facts that could lead to liability if they are not dealt with by the employer.

In all these ways, workplace investigations are an efficient means of resolving conflict and improving the overall workplace environment, thus increasing workplace productivity.

TITLE IX INVESTIGATIONS

Federal regulations require that educational institutions ensure that all genders have equal access to educational opportunities and resources. While traditionally this was mostly enforced in the area of sports, increasingly Title IX has been used to adjudicate cases of sexual harassment on campus. This includes cases of alleged sexual assault and dating violence, as well as hostile work environment and quid pro quo sexual harassment of colleagues or students by university employees.

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