Tips To Help Avoid Adverse Claims and Protect Your Company
In the Event of a Lawsuit
It is axiomatic that a successful business in the fashion industry requires close attention to detail and countless hours of work. While the threat of potential litigation should not be at the forefront of management’s thoughts, here are some tips to bear in mind to reduce your potential future exposure and to place your company in a better position to defend itself in the event it is faced with a lawsuit or a potential lawsuit:
- Notify your Insurance Carrier. If you are served with a Summons and Complaint, or are threatened with a lawsuit, notify your insurance carrier. If you fail to timely notify your insurance carrier it may deny coverage, and the company could be stuck with otherwise avoidable out-of-pocket defense and indemnification costs.
- Implement and Enforce an Anti-Harassment Policy. An affirmative defense may exist to protect the company from vicarious liability for certain sexual harassment/discrimination claims based upon actions by supervisors and co-employees if the company implements and enforces an anti-harassment/discrimination policy; exercises reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing discriminatory behavior; and the employee unreasonably fails to take advantage of any preventative or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to avoid harm otherwise.
- Two Company Representatives Should Participate in Disciplinary, Evaluation and Exit Interview Meetings With Employees. Many employment claims (or issues that may give rise to employment claims) can stem from a disciplinary meeting, employee evaluation or exit interview, when a company representative (whether the H.R. director or an immediate supervisor) informs an employee of job concerns, performance issues or that employment is being terminated. It is advisable for the company to have two company representatives at those meetings to be better able to confirm or deny what transpired (to avoid a “he said she said” scenario) in the event of a subsequent claim by the employee.
- Careful! Emails Are Not Private. Once a lawsuit is underway, the company will likely be required to turn over emails (or entire accounts) that may be relevant to the subject-matter of the lawsuit. So, the next time you send a personal email from your work account, be mindful of its content, especially if you don’t want some lawyer, like myself, reading about your personal life. Conversely, lawyers either prosecuting or defending a case are always looking for the “smoking gun.” So, before you click “Send”, make sure you are comfortable that, if a lawsuit arises, your email will not be the “smoking gun” that an opposing lawyer may be seeking.
- Keep Accurate Time Records of Non-Exempt Employees. It is not only statutorily required for employers to do so, but is critical to the defense of a Fair Labor Standards Act claim for unpaid (or underpaid) wages, to accurately keep and maintain time records of all non-exempt employees. If the company maintains accurate and orderly time records on a daily basis, you will not be in the position of having to scramble (or spend countless hours) compiling these crucial documents for your defense or trying to defend against an employee’s claim without potentially crucial documentary evidence.
- Avoid Spoliation Claims Arising From Destruction of Surveillance Videos. Sometimes a claim for spoliation will be made if relevant evidence has been intentionally or negligently destroyed. This can arise not only from the destruction of documents, but also when video surveillance captures relevant footage which is not retained. A possible defense here would be to ensure the company has thoroughly documented and enforced a recycling and retention procedure relating to the company’s surveillance.
The list above is generally focused in my practice areas of litigation. It is not intended to be, and in fact is far from, a comprehensive list. Each point merits its own blog post, which will likely follow in the near future.
Credit: Litigation Practice
