|
Endorsement
We Want to
Know Hotline®
ENDORSED
BY PROMINENT EMPLOYMENT LAW ATTORNEY
As a partner in the
Los Angeles law firm of Silver & Freedman,
and as the head of the employment law department, I have represented
employers in both employee-related issues and resulting litigation for
over 13 years. As such, I have become keenly aware of the
measures that can be taken by an employer to put them in a position to reduce both the chances and
severity of employment-related litigation.
I routinely
recommend hotlines such as We Want to Know Hotline®
for several reasons. To begin, the
hotline gives employers the ability to hear the concerns of the
employees who are sometimes too intimidated or otherwise inhibited from
raising genuine legitimate workplace issues. For example,
employees in a remote branch location may feel better about calling a
hotline and complaining about a local manager, especially when they
feel that there is no place for them to go at their direct
location. While we try to encourage employees to talk
directly to
managers about their concerns, for whatever reason, employees sometimes feel more
comfortable talking to a third-party,
and an employer may learn valuable information about the inner workings
of their company, including problem policies or managers, through a
candid and unsolicited employee complaint vehicle.
Equally as important, the
hotline provides a place for employees to vent.
We have seen situations where terminated
employees have called the hotline to speak their mind after a
legitimate termination. While the company may disagree with
the
employee's view point, the employee has exhausted his or her energy by
venting to a third-party other than an attorney who might otherwise
encourage a lawsuit. In
all the cases
of which I am aware, none of these employee complaints has subsequently
turned into litigation against the company. Obviously, the
employees were placated in a manner much cheaper than a workers'
compensation suit, unemployment hearing, or, worse, a full-fledged
lawsuit.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, if an employee leaves and files a
lawsuit claiming that he or she had been sexually harassed
or otherwise abused during work but failed to make a complaint, the hotline may be used as a
defense mechanism.
It is extremely valuable to be able to ask the employee in a deposition
why he or she failed to call the hotline prior to termination, if the
employee legitimately felt harassed or abused during
employment. I
am aware of cases where this evidence in and of itself has been used to
defeat lawsuits or evoke extremely low settlements.
From my vantage point as a defense attorney, THE HOTLINE IS ONE OF THE
BEST FORMS OF PROTECTION AN EMPLOYER CAN GET, especially for the money
involved. I routinely recommend it to employers of all sizes.
Beth A. Schroeder, Esq.
|
