How Mismanaged Complaints Lead to Soaring Legal Fees

The Legal Fees Are Just the Beginning

Yes, attorney fees are staggering. I’ve watched organizations spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal representation that could have been avoided entirely. But that’s not the worst part.

The worst part is what happens to your organization while you’re fighting these battles. Productivity plummets. Good employees leave. Your reputation takes hits that can take years to recover from, if ever.

When Complaints Become Public Relations Disasters

There was a time when the worst that could happen to an organization was a scandal on the nightly news. Today you don’t need a press conference to damage an organization’s reputation. One quick tweet or Facebook post can send your stock tumbling and your board of directors calling for heads to roll.

I’ve seen this pattern repeatedly: an organization receives a complaint, handles it poorly, and suddenly finds themselves not just fighting the original issue but managing a full-blown crisis that’s spiraled completely out of control.

How Organizations Create Their Own Legal Disasters

The Delay-and-Deny Strategy

The most expensive mistake I see organizations make? Hoping problems will go away if they ignore them long enough.

When someone comes to you with a complaint, every day you delay is another day that person feels unheard, dismissed, and increasingly desperate for resolution. I’ve represented clients who started with simple requests—an apology, a policy change, assurance it wouldn’t happen again—but ended up in federal court because the organization stonewalled them for months.

The Defensive Stance That Backfires

Legal departments commonly deny accusations and, in many cases, discredit the accuser. By painting the accuser a liar, they think they’re protecting the organization. What they’re actually doing is escalating a conflict that could have been resolved cooperatively.

When you take a defensive stance from the beginning, you’re telling the person who came to you that you see them as the enemy. They’ll respond accordingly.

Creating Toxic Environments That Breed More Problems

In this kind of toxic environment, stress levels skyrocket while productivity declines. Once you’ve violated basic principles of respect and fairness and parties become reactive, it can be nearly impossible to control the spill. The complaining and disenchantment will not be held in by the walls of your organization but will make their way to the eyes and ears of the public.

The Turning Points That Determine Everything

I’ve found that there are specific moments in every complaint process that become turning points. Handle them well, and you can resolve issues before they escalate. Handle them poorly, and you’re looking at legal fees that can cripple your organization.

The First Response Sets Everything in Motion

How can you resolve this conflict in a manner that doesn’t dehumanize anyone and respects all people involved? How can you respond to the allegation in a manner that respects the humanity of the claimant? How can you take the next step in a manner that recognizes that someone feels harmed?

You don’t know all the facts, but you want to protect your organization’s legal interests. By asking these questions of yourself, you stand a better chance of avoiding a lawsuit—and even if a lawsuit does come your way, you’re more likely to protect the reputation of your organization and minimize the fallout within.

The Investigation Process Can Make or Break You

If you want your organization to get through the investigation unscathed and maintain its strong organizational culture, instruct all levels of management and all investigators to:

• Quash rumors and gossip
• Avoid and discourage retaliation
• Be as transparent as possible
• Constantly communicate the grave consequences of libel and retaliatory actions

Conversely, the organizational culture is undermined by:

• Suggesting guilt before an investigation is complete
• Blindsiding your witnesses with surprise interviews and interrogations
• Communicating that the claimant is a problem

These actions expose you to:

• A less or ineffective investigation
• Higher risk of litigation
• Higher damages
• A hit to your reputation

What Actually Works (And Saves You Money)

Treat Everyone as Equally Deserving of Respect

Instead of viewing your impact as limited to just quashing the allegation and keeping your people in line, you can create an organizational culture that over time reduces incidences and reports of wrongdoing. You will have fewer reports not because people keep their mouths shut, but because the culture itself takes concerns seriously and addresses them before they become major problems.

Make Every Touchpoint Build Trust, Not Destroy It

No organization wants to deal with the conflicts, injuries, and damage. No organization wants to devote untold hours and dollars to investigating and resolving such matters, but all organizations do so at some point. When they do, if they understand the multiple points along the process that can become turning points, they are much less likely to suffer unnecessary time and expense correcting the problem or cleaning up the damage.