David W. Garland, Member of the Firm and Chair of the firm’s National Employment, Labor & Workforce Management Steering Committee, authored an article in HR Dive, titled “What an Employer Can Do to Prevent Becoming the Next Weinstein or Wynn — Part II.”

Following is an excerpt:

In Part I, we identified some of the steps that an employer should take to minimize the risk that it might find itself in the headlines because of sex harassment allegations against a founder or other key player in the organization. Those steps included creating a culture of compliance, communicating with a complainant after the complaint is made, establishing a safe work environment for employees and providing effective training to the employee population. In Part II, we discuss additional steps that the C-suite should be taking.

A key first step is having in place the right team and protocol before a complaint is made and publicized. With the disappearance of a traditional news cycle — and the emergence of a non-stop, 24/7 social media culture — any lapse in response time can have a devastating impact on a company’s reputation and brand. The team must consist of senior leadership with decision-making authority from human resources, legal and communications, as well as their top lieutenants. Key high-level management personnel also should be integrated, depending on the identity of the complainant and the alleged harasser. Team members should receive significant training on the company’s harassment policy and appropriate investigative and remedial responses.

Jump to Page

Privacy Preference Center

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.