Supplemental materials for LEAP 2025 session Investigations: Getting It Wrong Is Not an Option
When you launch an investigation into suspected wrongdoing, be sure to document each step you take. Employees who get fired are very likely to file lawsuits. Their lawyers will surely scrutinize your investigation for any evidence that you took shortcuts or were biased in some way against their client.
It’s up to HR to prepare for that possibility by showing that the investigation was based on valid business reasons and that you applied the process even-handedly. In court, good records can help prove your good faith.
Recent case: Montrell, who is gay, worked for HCA Human Resources for less than two years. The company had a tuition-reimbursement plan, and Montrell quickly signed up to advance his education.
In late December of his second year at HCA, Montrell told a high-level manager about his sexual orientation.
Around the same time, he also submitted a tuition-reimbursement request for a semester’s university studies. HR denied the request, noting that Montrell hadn’t received prior approval before the semester began. Montrell asked HR to reconsider his request. When it reopened his file, HR spotted discrepancies in prior reimbursement requests, such as inconsistent start and end dates for his courses. One document included another student’s name. Further investigation made HR suspect Montrell had used software to alter his tuition account documents. HR concluded Montrell had “altered education documents.”
Montrell was fired and filed a lawsuit alleging a hostile work environment and discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The court reviewed HCA’s investigation documentation and tossed out Montrell’s lawsuit. It said the company demonstrated it had conducted a legitimate investigation spurred by reasonable suspicion that Montrell had submitted altered reimbursement claims. The court said that was unrelated to anyone learning Montrell’s sexual orientation. (Kilpatrick v. HCA Human Resources, 6th Cir., 2023)
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