Case Study : Does the company get involved, or not?

You are the Director of Employee Relations for a mid-size manufacturing company in the Midwest. One morning, in a regularly scheduled meeting with your staff, an HR assistant, Joyce, brings a problem to your attention. According to a manager in Accounts Receivable, a young AR Clerk is currently being harassed by another employee at a different company in their building. Things have intensified over the last few weeks with all the public unrest. Her supervisory thinks it is because of her skin color. The woman has an unblemished performance record for the last five years, but recently she has had several performance problems, one of which caused a huge computer glitch for many employees, and another that almost caused injury to one of her co-workers. The AR supervisor has no idea how to handle the situation and has asked for assistance from HR.

Joyce feels strongly that the company needs to do something to help the employee. Joyce has requested that the company identify the person, contact the other employer, and have them fired. She believes that the police should be notified to get a restraining order against the other employee so they can not enter the building. She also requests that the woman is escorted to and from the parking lot for her work shift.

James, another HR assistant, believes that Joyce is totally out of line. His concern is focused on the performance problem that has developed and should be addressed. He states that the company cannot have employees crashing the computer or putting others at safety risk due to their own personal problems. He further notes that the company has no evidence to corroborate the clerk's story and has neither the time nor skills to conduct any kind of investigation. He believes that any action the company might undertake could worsen the situation if it were true because a restraining order can make things worse.

Part 1 Questions:

1. Has the company been notified of the harassing issue since she only told her manager?

2. Does the company have to respond since the AR clerk did not tell HR or fill out a complaint?

3. Does the company have any responsibility since the harassing is not their employee?

4. If the company does not address it, what could happen to the AP Clerk, others that hear about it, Joyce and James?

5. After listening to both of the assistants, what actions would you take?

6. Would you focus intensely on the performance issues?

7. How would you justify your actions to Joyce and/or James since any decision you make is likely to go against the course of action one of them recommend?