Harassment investigations should look beyond conduct directed at the employee who raised the concern, according to a recent D.C. Circuit concurrence. It challenges a line of lower-court decisions that discounted discriminatory conduct that was not directed at the employee alleging a hostile work environment.

The concurrence argues that this approach is too narrow because offensive conduct involving coworkers, customers, or others may contribute to the environment that an employee experiences. Offensive conduct can disrupt the workplace, undermine trust, and raise compliance concerns regardless of the target.

Employers should ensure that their harassment investigations consider the broader workplace context. An employer should address inappropriate conduct wherever it is found, rather than limit corrective action to conduct directed at the employee who raised the concern.

Click here to read more from the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association. For more information, consider attending CWC’s Investigating and Responding to Discrimination Charges course.