Is That Employee You Just Disciplined Taking Notes?
If an employer asks me to complete an external investigation of serious misconduct or a complaint of
discrimination and/or harassment I begin with a set of general questions before I conduct any interviews. I always ask, “Do you think the employee is taking notes?”
When I worked for the NLRB, we called an employee who came in to file a claim armed with a stack of handwritten papers a notebook case. This person was taking notes in preparation for making a formal complaint or in anticipation of trouble with their boss. Today’s notebook cases have handwritten notes in addition to copies of emails, performance evaluations and various memos and employer notices.
Realizing that an employee is taking notes should be cause for concern. This is an employee who may be building their own file or case against an employer. They may start taking notes and saving documentation on their own because they don’t like the way someone is treating them, or they’re having trouble with job performance.
It’s more likely that this note taker and saver is advised to amass this information by a friend or family member who has been down this road, or an attorney. This attorney is likely to be a friend of a relative or neighbor whose practice has nothing to do with employment law.
When this employee chooses to go to an external agency they present what appear to be complete details of an employer’s wrongdoing. Of course the agency is only getting half the story but an organized, articulate employee can be very persuasive to an investigator.
You can’t stop an employee from taking their own notes or keeping copies of documents that they have routine access to. You can make certain that your managers are trained to eliminate improper references and comments in emails, memos, and performance evaluations. As soon as you realize that an employee is taking notes or building their own file, it’s time for a reminder of the importance of clear factual communications.
The note taker may never bring a complaint to an external agency. Just in case they do, you don’t want to give them information and documents to add to a file that becomes the basis for a potentially negative outcome.
