If you're reading this blog, you're probably what I think you are - a business person, an advocate for employees, a champion of pay for performance - need I go on?  You're a talent agent, a HR pro, etc.  I get it, so do you.  You're doing the best you can to match the needs of the business with the needs of the employee. 

Then you get hit with an EEOC/ADA/FMLA suit.  Probably in that order, based on the ease of charge and proving the claim has merit.

That's when the HR pro starts to feel a little jaded.  It's not that you took the charge, it's that there's absolutely no merit to the charge.

Yes, Virgina, those who file charges are often low performers with conduct issues.  Or as I like to say, allegations are free - anyone can make them and file a charge.  That's America...

Here's a good example from Suits in the Workplace:

"A diabetic employee from the City of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was discharged for dishonesty by calling in sick for two days, when she was actually in Las Vegas having her lips and eyebrows permanently tattooed.  The employee brought an action against the City, its Mayor, its Director of Human Resources and its Business Administrator (no word if the tattoo artist was a named defendant) claiming: (1) that she was terminated because of her gender and disability (Type-II Diabetes); (2) she was unlawfully retaliated against for seeking an accommodation under the ADA, as well as for having reported harassment under Title VII; (3) that the City interfered with her FMLA rights; and (4) she was denied procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment in violation of Section 1983 in light of her public employment.

Although the parent in me says that tattling on a co-worker isn't a "nice thing to do,"   somebody saw fit to send an anonymous note to the Mayor stating that the employee was in Las Vegas on vacation rather than on sick leave.  Upon her return, the City asked her about her absences and, according to the opinion, the employee lied - telling the City that she had not been to Las Vegas but rather had been in her sick bed at her boyfriend's house.  In support of this story, she even produced a note, allegedly from her doctor, confirming her illness.  A City investigation ensued and it was determined that the employee lied.  As a result, she was terminated for dishonesty.

The City filed a successful Summary Judgment Motion and the employee appealed to the Third Circuit.  The Court determined that the employee failed to offer any evidence of discrimination or retaliation, noting that the employee "presented no evidence that any male employee of the City improperly took sick leave, lied to the City about the circumstances surrounding the sick leave, and then attempted to cover up his whereabouts to the City Administration [.]"

Like I said, "Allegations are free".  Facts are hard.  If you're the HR pro I know you are, taking a charge like this will make you jaded for a day or two, then you'll decide it's the cost of doing business, and you'll be back to your normal self - businessperson and employee advocate. 

You'll sigh when more laws are proposed, because you know you do what it takes to treat people fairly, and most of the charges you take don't have much merit.

Allegations are free, facts are harder to produce.  Play on, HR pro...