Managers need to be careful about disciplining employees who’ve made discrimination or harassment complaints. But does that mean those workers can get away with breaking policy?

Read the facts of this real-life case and decide: Who won?

The facts:

A company got an anonymous tip about an employee’s policy violation: Allegedly, she was using her office computer to do work for a personal business she ran on the side, spending a significant amount of the work day performing duties for her other venture.

The company searched her computer and found that a “substantial portion” of the hard drive contained files related to the personal business. The woman was fired for breaking a policy against moonlighting during work hours with company-owned equipment.

The problem: A few weeks before the investigation, she had filed a gender discrimination complaint. She sued, claiming the investigation and termination were in retaliation for her complaint.

The employer said:

The employee was fired for a non-biased reason — a blatant violation of company policy. The timing of the firing and the complaint was just coincidence.

Who won the case?

Answer: The employer.

Why: Since the company showed it had a good reason to fire the employee, it was up to her to prove the decision was biased. The best she could do was point out the suspicious timing.

Though terminations that closely follow a complaint often look bad, timing isn’t everything. In this case, the company conducted a thorough investigation by searching her computer files and interviewing the woman’s co-workers about how she spent her time. There was no doubt the firing was appropriate.

Also, the policy was applied consistently. The employee couldn’t point to any instances where someone else broke the same rule and didn’t get fired.

Cite: Loggins v. Kaiser Permanante

Tags: moonlighting, office computer, policy, retaliation