Why Businesses Need to Use a Qualified EEO Investigator

January 3rd 2008 brought us the news that the largest single racial discrimination settlement ever was leveled against Lockheed Martin by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

This case illustrates the absolute necessity to have an experienced EEO Investigator perform the investigation into allegations of racial discrimination. Lockheed Martin failed to perform due diligence into allegations brought forward by an African American employee who complained to management that he had been the target of racial epithets, threatened with bodily harm, racial slurs, and offensive language. These allegations were made based upon three work locations in Florida, Washington State and Hawaii.

These allegations were investigated not by an EEO Officer but a Human Resources Director whose final conclusions contained the verbiage "boys will be boys." If that was the extent of the investigation then this settlement was certainly fair. A trained EEO Investigator would have weighed all of the evidence, taken statements from all concerned, supervisors and colleagues and any other with knowledge of and witness to the allegations. There were many statements printed in the paper by the complainant that were, if proven, racially motivated with the intent to create a hostile working environment. After reading the comment by the HR Director though, I doubt whether there was complete follow-up to these allegations to develop proper evidence and establish probable cause for either side. That is what an EEO Investigator's charge is; not to act as an employee or management advocate but to develop the evidence that is presented to him/her.

The entire EEO process demands complete ethical boundaries to protect that process. Without development of evidence, the weight of the case brought on by the complainant far outweighed the efforts of a large, well funded corporation who should have allocated funding for an EEO Investigator. If the HR Director found out these comments and other allegations has basis in fact, then disciplined should have occurred immediately for those who perpetrated those actions. Immediate diversity training should have been instituted for the entire department not only for those accused. Diversity and cultural competency training is essential to ensure inclusion in the workplace. Ignoring obvious racial comments and other allegations only creates the situation whereby the employer knew or should have known these things were going on. In this case they did and did nothing.

An HR Director would have some knowledge of EEO but is not normally a specialist in that field. Without a professional EEO investigator, it is like trying to wire a house without an electrician. You just cannot pick up an electrician's book and figure it out and expect the same results that a professional electrician would have. There is no clap on clap off solution here. With the lackluster investigation, Lockheed Martin will never know the true extent of the facts of the case. Too much time was lost between the incidents (up to 2001) and the settlement (January 2008) that the facts of the case most likely were never developed or reviewed properly. Lockheed Martin most likely lost a true professional who was trying to use the reporting system only to have his allegations ignored. The lost of human capital to businesses is extreme due to EEO allegations proven or not.

So, for all businesses out there, take heed - if serious allegations arise in any area of racial, sexual, disability, national origin, color, religion or any other protected category, use your resources for a qualified professional EEO Investigator. Assigning EEO charges to anyone else will be risky at best and the result can be as Lockheed Martin found out - devastating!

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