This Termination Documentation Mistake Cost $2.3 Million

TAKE #1 -- STORY: I read about a Senior HR director who spent three months documenting everyone's interaction with a "difficult" new manager. Over 40 emails collected. A dozen or so conversation recaps. Four incident reports. Four witness statements. And more. The employee and her attorney sued anyway . . . and won their discrimination case. The arbitrator said the excessive documentation proved the company was building a termination case instead of trying to help the employee survive a hostile work environment.

TAKE #2 -- LESSON: While documentation can protect, it can also suggest malicious intentions. When you're methodically documenting everything, you're probably not managing the real issues. Employees know what’s happening and hate it, while some judges, juries, and arbitrators hate it even more.

TAKE #3 -- APPLY: Stop documenting just to CYA on a preplanned decision. Keep trying good-faith solutions, like bringing in outside assistance. Then, if it’s still not fixed, the documentation will have real teeth.

KEEP IN MIND: The paper trail you think protects just might be the path that leads you astray.

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Let's pick up the pieces together.