Implement good reporting policies and harassment procedures

After three years of litigation, a court in Nevada ruled in favor of Sbarro, LLC, in a $178 million lawsuit in which a former employee filed suit against the company for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, retaliation, and negligent retention. The former employee alleged she was repeatedly sexually assaulted at work by her manager and that the company’s HR director knew about the assaults and allowed them to occur. This case effectively shows why employers should have good reporting policies and anti-harassment procedures in place.

The facts

At trial, Sbarro’s lawyers successfully argued the company responded quickly when it became aware of the sexual assault allegations. Furthermore, it was able to show that the HR director didn’t become aware of the alleged assault claims until right before the former employee quit, which was almost a year after the assault occurred. Ultimately, the court reviewed the timeline of events and the evidence, and it found the claims against Sbarro’s HR director were “objectively false.”

If Sbarro hadn’t acted in a timely manner when it found out about the sexual harassment complaints, or if it didn’t have a clear and effective policy in place to deal with such problems, they would likely have lost this lawsuit.

Why you should have clear policies in place