Epstein Becker Green’s Employee Relations Investigations team focuses on helping clients with the critical process of investigating claims of wrongdoing that arise within their company. This is an important pre-litigation process that puts the company in the best position to understand the facts and then make legal judgments and strategy decisions and construct litigation defenses based on them.
We assist with claims brought directly to the attention of human resources, employee relations, or the general counsel’s office, or through such other means as a compliance integrity hotline. Our team can coordinate the collection and review of relevant electronic and hard-copy documents, conduct witness interviews, and, if appropriate, draft a written report of the investigation findings. We can run with investigations on our own or partner with the company’s in-house employee relations group and/or investigators to conduct the investigation as a team. On those occasions when litigation or arbitration results, we can also serve as fact witnesses regarding the investigations we have conducted.
When the situation demands it, we can play a background or supporting role, offering counsel and advice to the company’s internal investigators without conducting interviews ourselves. We have also been retained on many occasions to review the quality and thoroughness of investigations previously conducted by the company, or provide a second opinion on an investigation outcome.
We pride ourselves on being extremely thorough—yet speedy and efficient—and, in many cases, completing the entire investigation in two weeks.
Our attorneys will conduct, or provide legal support to clients regarding, investigations of the following topics:
- Bullying
- Compensation-related claims
- Control breaches
- Disability accommodations
- Discrimination
- Inappropriate conduct or language
- Policy breaches
- Retaliation
- Sexual harassment
- SOX and Dodd-Frank whistleblower matters
- Other types of general compliance matters