An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 12 - Investigations

The investigator should also ask the complainant if he or she kept notes of what happened. If so, the investigator should obtain a copy of the notes if the complainant still has them. e. Questions NOT To Ask There are some questions the investigator should not ask. An investigator should not ask questions that are wholly irrelevant to the allegations being investigated. Nor should an investigator attempt to elicit information protected by a person’s right to privacy unless it is clearly necessary to a full and thorough investigation. For example, in an investigation of alleged harassment, a pre-existing relationship between the complainant and the alleged might be relevant to whether some of the conduct was welcome, but the complainant’s sexual relationships with other people would not be. f. Questions Re: Complainant’s Conduct A complainant’s conduct might be relevant for resolving whether certain conduct was welcome and whether a hostile work environment was present. For example, the complainant’s frequent use of obscene or sexually-oriented speech might indicate that similar conduct by others did not create a subjectively hostile environment for the complainant. 1952 However, while these factors might be relevant, they are not conclusive. g. Questions Re: Alleged Wrongdoer’s Conduct The investigator may inquire into the alleged wrongdoer’s potential harassment of other employees, besides the complainant. This type of information might be relevant to the alleged wrongdoer’s motive or intent in his or her conduct toward the complainant. Specifically, it may be used to show the alleged wrongdoer had a general attitude of disrespect and hostility toward members of the complainant’s protected class (i.e., women) and therefore, had a motive to harass the complainant. 1953 Or, it may reveal that the alleged wrongdoer is consistently respectful towards woman and all other employees and that the alleged harassment is completely inconsistent with other employees’ observations and experiences. Evidence that the alleged wrongdoer harassed people both within and outside of the complainant’s protected class should be explored, even though poor treatment of individuals in other classifications may not negate a finding that harassing conduct was motivated by sex and violates the sexual harassment policy. For example, if a supervisor was abusive to both men and women, his conduct towards women might still be motivated by their sex. Perhaps he referred to men simply as “jerks,” but he called women “dumb broads.” While he could have simply called the women “dumb” his calling them dumb broads shows his abuse focused on the gender of the female employees. 1954 The supervisor’s abusive behavior to both men and women could potentially result in claims of sexual harassment from both male and female employees. 1955

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 452