If you run a Fortune 500 company, nonprofit, or municipality, and you face claims of discrimination or sexual harassment in the workplace, you should consider hiring a professional third-party workplace investigator.
Our Managing Partner and Litigation Attorney are AWI Certificate Holders and members of the Association of Workplace Investigators. AWI is a professional membership association for those who conduct and manage workplace investigations.
At The Noble Law, our deliver timely and trusted advice for workplace complaints. We conduct comprehensive, objective investigations ensuring that employers can have confidence that the findings are credible and free from accusations of bias that internal investigations sometimes experience. The Noble Law workplace investigators bring the legal knowledge, interviewing skills, legal analysis, and comprehensive report findings to workplace investigations relating to discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and whistleblower policies, among others.
When you need trusted counsel for workplace disputes, The Noble Law is uniquely positioned to help. Through independent investigations, we provide a reliable understanding of the facts, assess risk, and provide legal guidance for addressing the issues at hand as well as best practices moving forward. Our experienced attorneys provide legal services in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Our Workplace Investigation Services
When we are retained to investigate allegations of workplace misconduct at a municipality or organization, our engagements include:
- Review of the misconduct claims
- Review of current policies, training, and reporting procedures
- Extensive interviews of key witnesses
- Internal protocols to preserve the integrity of the investigation and preclude challenges to the impartiality of the investigation
- Oral presentation of a summary of findings of fact with respect to the allegation
- Recommendations for appropriate corrective or discipline measures
- Recommendations relating to management and employee training on certain workplace policies and practices
When an internal complaint is lodged, employers are legally obligated to conduct a workplace investigation to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal laws. Allegations of misconduct need defensible examination from a neutral third-party workplace investigator. At The Noble Law, we understand the potential liabilities faced by employers across a broad range of industries.
Four Common Types of Workplace Investigations
Our team is prepared to handle workplace investigations arising from a broad range of employment disputes and allegations, including those involving:
Harassment
Impartial and fair investigations are especially important in response to sensitive claims such as sexual harassment or harassment based on race, disability, or another protected characteristic.
Claimants and witnesses alike must be comfortable sharing testimony on these sensitive matters in a free and open environment, without feeling compelled to give the “right answer.”
In addition to conducting a fair harassment investigation, an impartial workplace investigator can help companies identify patterns of inappropriate behavior, recommend corrective actions, and help create a workplace environment where employees feel safe and valued.
Discrimination
When discrimination allegations surface, an impartial investigator can help you determine whether an employee was disadvantaged due to their race, gender, age, or other protected characteristic.
If discrimination did occur, a careful evaluation can help you understand whether the act was rooted in systemic biases or the result of a one-off decision by a manager or other individual. A thorough investigation can also identify discriminatory practices in hiring, promotions, disciplinary methods and even recruiting.
Retaliation and Whistleblower Violations
The very nature of retaliation claims can create an atmosphere in which employees are reluctant to speak up due to fears of termination, demotion, and other adverse treatment.
A third-party investigator provides anonymity and fairness as they work to determine whether any adverse treatment followed protected reporting.
These objective findings help prevent backlash, reinforce whistleblower protections, and demonstrate your company’s commitment to accountability and adherence to State and federal employment laws.
Fraud and Misconduct
An impartial investigator can delve into allegations of fraud or misconduct without concerns of internal coverups. Our workplace investigators can assess records, identify evidence trails, and interview employees with a neutral focus on fact finding. Such an approach can help your company get to the bottom of a damaging allegation while protecting your reputation and preventing similar future episodes.
Reasons To Hire An External Workplace Investigator
One of the most important reasons to hire an external workplace investigator is to ensure that the investigation is conducted impartially, which is in the best interest of the employer. The parties involved must feel like they are being treated fairly throughout the process, and this is difficult to achieve with internal investigations. Employers who want an unbiased assessment of claims concerning discrimination, sexual harassment, fraud, or other disputes turn to us for swift and sound legal guidance.
Because most of our employment law firm’s work is focused on representing employees, this affords us a valuable perspective on interviewing employees with complaints. Our commitment to making workplaces more equitable ensures the employees we interview that we will take their complaints seriously. The Noble Law provides workplace investigations in North Carolina and South Carolina.
If you are unsure of whether or not to hire a workplace investigator, here are a few of the most important reasons to do so. If you would like to talk to an employment attorney about your situation, contact us today.
The Allegations are Serious
When allegations are serious, having an employer deal directly with the issue may not be the best approach. After all, serious allegations of employee misconduct can have significant consequences, such as the risk of job loss or even criminal prosecution. Having a lawyer from The Noble Law conduct your workplace investigation protects you from the legal liability of conducting a flawed investigation on your own. Moreover, an external investigator will conduct a fair and thorough investigation, rather than minimizing any potential exposure, which is invaluable in a workplace misconduct case.
Need for Impartiality
One of the most important reasons to hire an external workplace investigator is to ensure that the investigation is conducted impartially. The parties involved must feel like they are being treated fairly throughout the process, and this is difficult to achieve with only an internal investigation. It is far easier to accuse a workplace investigator of bias if they work for the employer, while an external investigator will be neutral.
Lack of Time
When it comes to workplace misconduct cases, time is of the essence. If you delay a workplace investigation, memories may have faded or important documents may be lost or destroyed. Furthermore, failure to conduct a workplace investigation as soon as it becomes known can negate a defense of due diligence. It can be challenging to conduct an internal investigation quickly, but hiring an external investigator allows you to conduct a comprehensive investigation more quickly.
Protect Employees
Hiring an employment attorney as your intermediary investigator shields witnesses from potential retaliation, since they are protected by confidentiality agreements. Due to attorney-client privileges, the findings of the investigation will remain confidential, unlike those conducted by a company’s Human Resources.
Protect Your Brand and Reputation
Given the current climate, the manner in which employers investigate potential misconduct can be just as damaging to their reputation as the alleged wrongdoing itself. For this reason, it is imperative to conduct investigations with integrity, impartiality, and sensitivity to determine if laws were violated.
Having The Noble Law conduct prompt, unbiased, and comprehensive employee investigations provides our clients with a credible legal defense to claims under state and federal law, while laying the foundation for appropriate remedial measures.
What Can Go Wrong with an Internal Investigation? A Lot.
Here are some common pitfalls employers face when they choose to hand these matters to HR or other internal departments:
- Bias: Even the most well-meaning internal staff member may subconsciously be vying for a positive result for their employer. This can affect their interpretation of key events and their judgment as to the relevance of pieces of evidence.
- Perceived bias: There need not be any bias at all for the specter of perceived bias to compromise a workplace investigation. If the claimant, key witnesses, or even members of the public think your company is conducting a one-sided investigation, loss of public trust and diminished faith in the result may ensue.
- Conflicts of interest: Existing relationships and loyalties within the organization may compromise the objectivity of the investigation, making it difficult to address sensitive issues impartially.
- Loss of employee trust: If all of the above factors have one thing in common, it’s that they can erode trust and morale with employees throughout your organization. This can exacerbate a problem that would have otherwise been handled quickly and without controversy.
Mistakes and oversights can prove costly. This is why our clients turn to us when they need a thorough, detailed investigation that claimants, employees, and the public at large can trust.
Going Forward: The Ongoing Value of an Impartial Workplace Investigation
Some of the benefits employers can expect to gain after a successful and impartial workplace investigation include:
- Clearer policies and procedures: Workplace investigations often highlight gaps and ambiguities in existing guidelines, giving employers the opportunity to refine policies and establish more effective procedures.
- Reduced legal risks: A thorough and impartial investigation helps ensure compliance with employment laws, reducing the likelihood of lawsuits or regulatory penalties.
- Improved workplace culture: Addressing issues transparently fosters a fair and respectful environment, strengthening trust between employees and leadership.
- Increased employee confidence: Employees are reassured that their concerns are taken seriously, encouraging open communication and proactive problem-solving.
In addition to our workplace investigation services, The Noble Law routinely represents employees in employment law disputes and provides advice and counsel in other employment contexts to ensure compliance and fairness. This broad perspective helps us see these issues from all sides, anticipate how courts would rule on a given dispute, and provide guidance that limits the chances of such disputes arising again.
Confidential, Credible, and Unbiased Workplace Investigations
In addition to conducting workplace investigations, The Noble Law also represents employees in cases involving unlawful employment practices. If you are interested in speaking with a workplace retaliation lawyer or other skilled employment attorney in NYC, North Carolina, or South Carolina, please contact us to schedule a private consultation. We welcome in-person appointments and also offer video conferencing for remote clients.