Investigation
Independent Investigation of Employee Disputes
At the request of corporations or public entities, or their outside counsel, Penn Payne conducts independent investigations of employee complaints of harassment and discrimination, as well as all other types of employment disputes. She has the legal knowledge and experience to determine quickly which facts, issues and witnesses are most important in reaching conclusions about the complaint. Penn is often asked to undertake investigations when the issues involved are extremely sensitive or inflammatory, because she brings an open mind, common sense and good judgment to the process.
The following are typical of the investigations that she has done:
- Conducted an investigation of a former employee's claims of sexual harassment and retaliatory termination, where the facts alleged covered a six-year time period and necessitated over twenty detailed witness interviews. The company's outside lawyers stated that they believed the investigation was significant in obtaining a settlement in the case.
- Conducted an investigation into allegations of race discrimination brought by a long-time employee against a technology company. Even though Penn concluded that there was no discrimination, the employee was so impressed with her fairness that he subsequently asked her represent him in another matter.
- Conducted an investigation into allegations of abusive conduct on the part of an officer of a publicly traded corporation.
- Conducted an investigation into allegations of sex discrimination brought by a current employee against a member of the company’s Human Resources Department.
- Conducted an investigation of an employee's claim that she and the president of a company had a quid pro quo sexual relationship for several years, although the president denied the relationship. Despite the extreme sensitivities of the matter, Penn was able to provide a thorough and decisive investigation.
- Conducted an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate use by employees of social networking websites. The investigation brought to the company’s attention the need for policies governing employee use of these sites.