Employment discrimination is not something that only affects large companies with fully staffed human resources departments.  On the contrary, it can and does affect small companies as well.  Moreover, the effect that a claim of employment discrimination, even one with no merit, has on a small company can be devastating as a result of defense costs and time and effort required to defend the claim.  While an employer cannot control whether a current or former employee will bring an employment discrimination claim against it, there are steps that can be taken to reduce the chances of a claim being filed, while also building a defense in the event that a claim is filed. 

It is important that managers and other individuals who will be involved in making decisions regarding employee discipline have a general understanding of anti-discrimination laws [e.g., Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the West Virginia Human Rights Act, etc...].  There are various resources from which this information can be obtained, including several government agency websites, information from human resources organizations, college courses, and seminars.  A general understanding of the law not only is important when making an employment decision, but can play a role if a claim is filed when the manager or decision maker is asked during the course of legal proceedings if he or she knows what the law provides. 

All similarly situated employees should be treated consistently.  This will typically represent the centerpiece of defending a discrimination claim.  However, this does not mean that an employer cannot consider mitigating facts and circumstances [e.g., length of employment, lack of previous disciplinary problems, etc…], but the employer must be able to articulate and explain how those facts and circumstances caused the employee to be treated differently from the employee claiming to be a victim of employment discrimination. 

Provide employees with a method by which they can make complaints and/or raise concerns and ensure that each complaint and/or concern is addressed, even if the response is that the issue was considered but no further remedial action is required.  Employees who have such an outlet typically feel less compelled to file a claim of employment discrimination.  

Finally, consider how a judge or jury would view the decision that is being contemplated.  While the legal standard for whether or not an individual is the victim of employment discrimination is not whether the employee was treated fairly, this is often the standard that a jury will look to in deciding a case.  Thus, before taking an adverse action against an employee, consider whether the average person would feel that the employee was treated fairly.

While taking these steps will not necessarily prevent an employer from facing an employment discrimination claim, they do tend to make employees feel that they have been treated fairly and also tend to show that the employer took affirmative steps to prevent employment discrimination.