Seven Tips To Keep Office Romance From Causing Legal Heartache
Atlanta Partner Ann Margaret Pointer was featured in the February 7, 2014 Law360 article "Seven Tips To Keep Office Romance From Causing Legal Heartache."
According to the article, More and more people are finding their mates at work. When a relationship between employees sours, it can mean allegations of sexual harassment, and similar allegations can crop up when one employee aggressively pursues another who simply isn't interested.
Having some kind of open-door policy is the best way to make sure you get a chance to address issues long before your employees think of taking their concerns to a lawyer, according to the article.
“There has to be a safety valve so that any employee who feels threatened or coerced or afraid that they are going to be coerced can go to somebody who can manage the situation from the employer's side,” said Ann Margaret. “Usually, this falls to human resources, but for a smaller office or far-flung large companies that do not have trained HR staff on site, it can be useful to have an 800 line that an employee can call to report something that did not make him or her feel right.”