When it came time to promote someone to a leadership position, you already had an idea of who you wanted to choose. You did go through with interviews just to make sure you weren’t missing something, but that person stood out in the interviews just as much as they did during the work day. You gave them the promotion and you knew they were the right person for the job.
Unfortunately, you’re now being accused of discrimination by people who didn’t get the job. How could this have happened?
Were other candidates more qualified?
In some cases, other candidates may feel that they were more qualified for the position, and then they’ll assume that they were actually passed over for some other reason. They may assume that this is because of a protected class.
For instance, maybe another employee believes that they weren’t given the promotion because of their gender, even though they have more years of experience than the person that you hired. You can understand how they may feel frustrated, especially if they feel like this has happened to them in the past – even if it wasn’t with your company.
But you may know that gender didn’t play a role at all. Yes, the other person technically has more years of experience, but you may feel that a difference of two or three years doesn’t really change the way you consider it. You hired the person that you chose because you’d seen them work every day, you would watch the way that they interacted with others, and you knew that they were the right person for the job. It was about more than just experience or the number of years that they had worked.
Unfortunately, the other person may simply not see it the same way that you do. This could lead to litigation if they decide that they are being discriminated against. This can be detrimental to the future of your company, so it is absolutely critical that you know exactly what legal options you have. Remember that just being accused of something certainly doesn’t mean that it happened, and there are steps you can take to protect your company and your reputation.