No business owner wants to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit. This is especially true of discrimination lawsuits brought about by disgruntled employees. When an employee complains that they’ve been the victim of racial discrimination by a coworker, it’s important that management handles the situation swiftly, effectively and appropriately.
To ensure that your business survives this unfortunate event, here’s what to do if any employee complains about racial discrimination.
Don’t React Defensively
It’s natural for a business owner to be defensive of their company. When an employee makes an accusation of racism, a business owner will often interpret this as a personal attack. It’s important that you never react defensively when an employee complains about racial discrimination. Instead, be sympathetic and allow the employee to tell you the full story of what happened to them.
Take Action
It’s important that action is taken when an employee complains about a racist comment or incident. This might involve terminating the employee who was behind the racist comment or action. It also could involve implementing a diversity training program to demonstrate that you take racist incidents seriously and that you will not allow any room for bigotry within your organization.
A diversity training program isn’t just a good idea in the wake of a racist incident. Every company should be implementing these programs to ensure that their workplace environment is tolerant, safe and inclusive.
