The term ‘harassment’ covers a wide range of inappropriate and offensive nature conducts. Within the organizations, this behavior attempts to demean, humiliate, or embarrass an employee. There are state laws and company policies to safeguard the employees against hostile remarks or actions. However, if you are someone who has been deceptively accused of harassment in the workplace, then it is crucial to consider your next moves carefully. The harassment is a subtle issue and you may end up losing your job. Therefore, your initial reply must be to defend yourself against inappropriate claims. Try to stay calm, cool, positive, and strong. Choose practical approach to professionally handle the matter like hiring the services of an experienced lawyer. Here I have discussed in detail that how you can protect yourself against harassment allegations:
Write Down Your Perspective
In contemporary organizational settings, employees sometimes need to face the unfortunate circumstances either to defend themselves against workplace harassment or defend themselves against false accusations of harassment placed by the co-workers. So, whatever the case is, you need to write it down. It is essential to provide a written account of what you experienced in the organization, how that happened, what is your point of view on that, and how you are intended to deal with the false allegations on you. The answers may differ from the end of the person who is claiming to be harassed. However, it is important to write down your side of the story to clear out everything from your end. Write a report or prepare a formal written statement and submit it to the concerned department, human resource team, or managing body of your organization. It will allow them to better investigate the matter before terminating any blameless employee.
Don’t Be Afraid of Telling the Truth
Despite the consequences, be honest and don’t fear to tell your side of the story. If you are sure that you didn’t attempt to do what the accuser claimed about you, then stand firm in your faith. But, if you think you actually committed what the accuser say you did, then there is no shame to accept that and feel sorry about your previous acts. If you are brave enough to admit that you were wrong, then there are high chances that you will have to face less harsh penalties. Talk to the employer or human resource department to clear out what happened in the past. Ensure your victim that you won’t attempt to repeat that mistake in the future. Write down the confession letter and send it to HRM team; they will be likely to forgive you on your hostile conducts and give you a chance to prove your worth. You can also suggest them with reliable solutions to prevent future harassment incidents in your organization. In the end, put an end to your harassing behavior, whether it was actual harassment case or not.
Consult a Lawyer
If you are facing false harassment charges in your organization, then it is sensible to call an attorney and book your appointment with him immediately. Talk to him in a detailed way because he is the expert of his field. He have well-researched content and experience to protect you in this bad time. In modern times, the worst and complicated cases of harassment are rising in every organization. You need to realize that the harassment matters cannot be resolved by employing simple negotiation procedures within the organization. You need to make sure that you have the right financial support by your side. It is suggested to hire a lawyer who holds a solid history of winning cases. An inexperienced attorney can decrease your chances to win the case in court. You have to be sure who you are hiring to represent your harassment case. If you are looking for well-suited options, then contact Orange County Criminal Lawyer to get legal assistance. The professionals know the system and know the people so they can predict what is on the other side of the aisle. Discuss with your defense law attorney to advise you on your legal rights. The defense attorney is diligently committed to their clients and offer standard resolutions to save you against legal charges. He will help you best proceed with the false assertions and protect you in the court of law.
Get Allies Who Can Support You
If you are being accused of false harassment charges, the chances are there that others in your organization might have experienced the same incident in the recent times. So, it is wise to contact those individuals and urge them to support you in this scenario. Ask them to document their experiences and formally file to the higher authorities within the organization. Sometimes in work settings, a person or a group of individuals exists who put false charges on others to compete with them or intentionally get them terminated from the workplace. This immoral tactic allows them to get promotion or straight-line career path for themselves. Therefore, it is best-suited to raise a collective voice against such unethical individuals. Prepare a shared report and submit it to the rightful authorities to present a solid, stronger, powerful, or united case against to defend against dishonest accusers. If the employees who experienced the same instance are afraid to record their statements officially, then don’t lose your hope and have faith in yourself. The first step is always the hardest, but after you take this everyone will come out of their comfort zones to support your right cause for the betterment of overall environment at workplace.
Avoid Retaliating and Stay Stronger
When you have to experience uninvited happenings at workplace, you need to stay calm and avoid instant reactions. It is advised to steer clear from probable retaliation in any way, especially when you have been falsely charged for actions that you didn’t even attempt. At that time, you may be feeling emotionally or physically unstable. You are most likely to sense emotions like anger, annoyance, frustration, fear, stress, hopelessness, and pessimism. Therefore, to deal with offensive behavior, you need to have a better control of your emotions. Only then you can think of ideals solutions to get you out of this problem in no time. Do not effort to take unfavorable or adverse reactions against what is going with you. It is wise to maintain the healthy distance from the person who have made harassment allegations against you. Instead of taking reactive approach, take a proactive approach to formally file your concerns in the court of law or to the HR department. Most importantly, fully accept the reality so you can stay strong when everything starts to go wrong. Remind yourself that it is the temporary phase in your work life and you will get over with. Push yourself to stay strong, take positive steps, and focus on fixing the current problem.
Consult With Your Employer
If you are facing difficulties in building great work relationships with the coworkers, or if someone intentionally bothers you on daily basis with false allegations, then you must consult with the HR body in your organization. The HR department works well to secure the honor and rights of its workforce. The HR body will attentively listen to the complications and try to resolve them for you without gaining help from an external support system. The HR representatives will ensure the secrecy of your case. They hold the best possible procedures to deal with false harassment claims according to the specified company’s policies. Honestly, explain your perspective and offer your suggestions to resolve the matter quickly so you can regain your focus on the job. The HR department can be a bridge to facilitate the interests of both the parties. The HR professionals attentively listen to both sides of the story before they pass their final judgments on the matter. Hence, the HR consultation is a great way to resolve disputes between employees without taking any strict actions. They take one step further approach to explain that there is nothing solid you can do on your end to regain your image in the company, and only they can better compensate you.
Request Higher Authorities to Conduct Evidentiary Interview
If you believe that HR is not able to handle the false allegations that have been placed against you, then you can certainly contact the supreme authorities in your workplace. Request them to support you and conduct evidentiary interview. Evidentiary interviews are typically conducted to formally handle the complaints filed by the employees who are dealing with hostile situations within the organization. They can be due to misconduct, indiscretion, wrongdoing, discrimination, or harassment conducts and even due to false allegations/charges. The interview is usually conducted after the thorough analysis of accused parties, person who filed the harassment allegations, and the witnesses. The interview is independently conducted with all the parties to record their point of views. The evidentiary interview attempts to gather appropriate evidences to determine the validity of the case and accordingly takes actions.
