Employer’s Response to an “Inappropriate Remark” Can Avoid Legal Problems

In my previous post, I explained how a court can seize on one remark by a supervisor to infer a discriminatory motive for an employment decision. I have also commented that even a single remark, if sufficiently sever, can create a hostile work environment for the purposes of a harassment claim. What does this do to communication in the workplace? Perhaps The Boss on Dilbert could concoct a policy requiring legal pre-approval of workplace remarks. For the rest of us, we are better served by managing the situation after it occurs.

How an employer responds to an inappropriate remark can make all the difference in managing the legal fallout. I believe the ingredients of a response are (1) a succinct acknowledgement of the inappropriateness (but not necessarily the illegality) of the remark; (2) an apology from the company and the maker of the remark; (3) a reaffirmation that such conduct is not acceptable in the employer’s workplace; and (4) some appropriate remedial or disciplinary action.

Take for example, the Golf Channel’s suspension of anchor Kelly Tilghman for two weeks for saying that young players who wanted to challenge Tiger Woods should “lynch him in a back alley.” The Golf Channel’s Editor’s Note is a roadmap for handling the situation:

Editor’s Note: The GOLF CHANNEL released the following statement on Jan. 9th:
 
The GOLF CHANNEL regrets the poorly chosen remarks made by Kelly Tilghman on a recent broadcast and, again, extends our apologies to anyone who was offended.
 
There is simply no place on our network for offensive language like this.
 
While we believe that Kelly’s choice of words were inadvertent and that she did not intend them in an offensive manner, the words were hurtful and grossly inappropriate.
 
Consequently, we have decided to suspend Kelly for two weeks, effective immediately.

Ms. Tilghman was completely contrite about her misstep, but some employees are not. Nonetheless, the employer must take action and oft times wade into difficult situations. Such an example is reported by Ann Belser in her Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article Ex-employee of Mellon loses religious bias suit.

The bank was sued for religious discrimination after it disciplined an employee for his offensive reply to e-mail sent by fellow employees inviting him to a luncheon hosted by Mellon’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employee group. His note stated that he did not want to be lumped in with other groups including those that “have this sickness called gay or lesbian.”

After a complaint to HR, the employee was told that his reply was offensive and that he was required to treat his co-workers with respect. He replied, “The true friend of gays and lesbians is the one who points them to help.” For this, the employee was disciplined. He then filed a religious discrimination claim based upon his Orthodox Jewish religious beliefs. The court dismissed the case, finding that the employee was disciplined because his actions were offensive, not because of his religion.