Wait, HR Professionals can be Sued Personally? Risking Personal Liability in HR

 

On September 4, we wrote about an HR professional who did the right thing, was retaliated against, and ultimately won a money judgment against her employer. We promised to talk about some other issues in a later article. So here we are.

In the previous article, we described a case in which a HR professional received a sexual harassment complaint, investigated it, and was retaliated against by her employer. Though this one turned out well, a reasonable person may simply decide to "go along to get along," especially if there is someone at the top, like a CEO, who doesn't want something investigated. But then ...

Are HR Professionals Obligated to Investigate Claims?

Quick question: What is a lawyer's favorite answer to every question. "It depends." And the answer to this question is it depends.

Employment laws vary by state (and sometimes even by municipality), but in general, HR professionals can be held personally responsible for failing to investigate claims involving:

1. Civil Rights

2. FMLA

3. Foreign Corrupt Practices (Bribery)

We're going to talk more about each of these in the future, but know that these are claims that you really should investigate. For example, in the event of a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violation, HR professionals might be subject to a fine of up to $100,000 - and your employer cannot pay the fine for you. So this is serious business.

Takeaways

Your employer pays you. In general, your role is to protect the company while making certain functions smooth. But you should know that your position is not without substantial personal risk. You should not be willing to do whatever your employer wants. You may need to protect yourself as well. 

 

This post originally appeared on LinkedIn.