When an employee reports harassment, discrimination, or other misconduct, how you investigate determines whether you are protected or exposed. An inadequate investigation — one that is biased, incomplete, or poorly documented — can itself become the basis for liability, even if the underlying complaint lacked merit.

We guide employers through the investigation process from complaint intake through resolution: defining the scope and identifying witnesses, preserving relevant documents and electronic communications, conducting objective interviews with the complainant, the accused, and witnesses, making credibility determinations based on evidence rather than assumptions, preparing an investigative report that documents findings and supports the employer’s decision, and recommending appropriate remedial action based on the findings.

Under Illinois law, employers have an affirmative obligation to investigate complaints of harassment and discrimination. The Illinois Human Rights Act applies to employers with 1 or more employees — there is no small-employer exception. The Faragher-Ellerth affirmative defense to harassment claims requires the employer to show it took reasonable steps to prevent and correct harassment, and a thorough investigation is central to that defense.

For a detailed guide to the investigation process, see our blog: How to Handle a Workplace Investigation After a Harassment Complaint →

Illinois is an at-will employment state, which means you can terminate an employee for any reason that is not illegal. But “not illegal” is a higher bar than most employers realize. If the employee recently filed a complaint, requested a medical accommodation, took FMLA leave, filed a workers’ compensation claim, or disclosed a disability, the timing of the termination alone can create a presumption of retaliation — even if your reasons were entirely legitimate.

We provide pre-termination counseling that evaluates the litigation risk of each separation before it happens. We review the employee’s history for protected activity, assess whether the stated reason for termination is consistently documented, identify potential claims the employee could bring, and recommend whether to proceed, delay, or adjust the approach. If severance is appropriate, we coordinate with our severance agreement services to ensure you obtain a binding release of claims.

The most expensive termination is the one you did not think through. A 30-minute consultation before the meeting can save you six figures in litigation costs after it.

In employment litigation, the quality of your documentation is the quality of your defense. If an employee claims they were terminated for discriminatory reasons, the first thing a plaintiff’s attorney examines is the performance file. Were there documented performance issues before the protected activity? Were similarly situated employees treated the same way? Was the progressive discipline process followed consistently?

We help employers build performance management systems that serve a dual purpose — improving employee performance and creating a defensible record. This includes designing performance improvement plans (PIPs) with specific, measurable objectives and defined timelines, establishing progressive discipline frameworks (verbal warning → written warning → final warning → termination) that are applied consistently, creating documentation templates for managers to use when recording performance conversations, training managers on what to document, when to document it, and how to phrase it for legal defensibility, and building systems for regular performance reviews that create a contemporaneous record throughout the year — not just at termination.

The best time to document a performance problem is when it happens. The worst time is after the employee files a discrimination charge.

Accommodation requests are among the highest-risk employee relations issues. The ADA and the Illinois Human Rights Act require employers to engage in an interactive process with employees who request accommodations for disabilities — and failure to engage in that process, even if you ultimately deny the accommodation, is itself a violation of the law.

We advise employers on how to manage accommodation requests for physical and mental health conditions, requests for remote work as a reasonable accommodation, FMLA leave administration (including intermittent leave, which is among the most operationally difficult leave types to manage), VESSA leave for employees who are victims of domestic or sexual violence (Illinois requires all employers, regardless of size, to provide unpaid leave), and return-to-work determinations after medical leave, including fitness-for-duty requirements.

The interactive process must be documented. If an employee eventually sues, the court will look at whether you engaged in good faith — whether you met with the employee, explored alternatives, and explained why specific accommodations were or were not feasible. Documentation of this process is your defense.

Remote and hybrid work arrangements create legal complexity that most employers underestimate. Wage and hour compliance changes when employees work from home — meal and rest break monitoring, overtime tracking, and expense reimbursement obligations under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA) all apply differently in a remote context. Multi-state employment creates tax and jurisdictional issues. And return-to-office mandates can trigger accommodation requests from employees with disabilities.

We help employers develop remote work agreements that address working hours and overtime expectations, equipment and expense reimbursement policies, confidentiality and data security requirements, performance monitoring and accountability standards, return-to-office provisions and modification procedures, and multi-state compliance for employees working from other jurisdictions.

If you are transitioning from fully remote to hybrid or in-office, we advise on how to implement the change while minimizing accommodation requests, ADA complaints, and attrition. This work connects to our contract drafting services for employment agreement updates.

Your managers are your greatest legal risk. A single off-hand comment during a termination meeting, a poorly worded email about an employee’s medical condition, or an inconsistent application of the attendance policy can create the evidence a plaintiff’s attorney needs to take a case to trial. Most managers do not intend to create legal exposure — they simply do not know what they should and should not say.

We provide training for managers and supervisors on conducting legally compliant termination and discipline conversations, recognizing and escalating harassment and discrimination complaints, managing accommodation requests without making medical inquiries that violate the ADA, documenting performance issues in language that is factual, specific, and defensible, understanding retaliation — what it is, how it happens accidentally, and how to avoid it, and handling difficult employees without creating protected-class narratives (e.g., “she’s too emotional” or “he’s not a culture fit” when the real issue is quantifiable performance).

Illinois employers with 15 or more employees are required by the Workplace Transparency Act to provide annual sexual harassment prevention training to all employees, including managers. We help you meet this requirement while also providing practical, scenario-based training that goes beyond compliance checkboxes.

A culture audit is a diagnostic assessment of your workplace to identify legal risks before they materialize into complaints, claims, or litigation. We review your policies, talk to key stakeholders, and evaluate whether your actual practices match what your employee handbook says — because the gap between policy and practice is where most lawsuits live.

Our culture audits examine complaint reporting mechanisms (are employees comfortable reporting concerns, and do they know how?), investigation practices (are complaints investigated consistently and documented properly?), discipline and termination patterns (is there consistency across departments, or does one manager’s approach differ dramatically from another’s?), documentation quality (are performance issues being recorded contemporaneously?), policy gaps (are your policies current with Illinois law, including the Illinois Human Rights Act, Paid Leave for All Workers Act, and VESSA?), and management behavior (are your managers creating risk through their language, conduct, or decision-making?).

We are particularly effective at this work because we see the outcomes of failed workplace culture every week — from both the employee and employer side of employment litigation. We know which problems lead to lawsuits and which do not, and we prioritize accordingly.

Sometimes the employee relations problem does not end when the employee leaves. Former employees may post defamatory reviews on Google, Glassdoor, or social media. They may contact your clients to disparage the business. They may threaten litigation — or actually file it. In extreme cases, they may engage in conduct that rises to the level of cyberstalking or harassment under Illinois law (720 ILCS 5/26.5-3).

We help employers respond to post-exit conduct strategically: evaluating whether negative reviews contain actionable defamation (false statements of fact) versus protected opinion, sending cease-and-desist letters when appropriate, reporting content that violates platform terms of service, enforcing non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements, and in extreme cases, pursuing injunctions or defamation claims to stop ongoing harmful conduct.

The critical rule: do not retaliate. Do not post negative information about the former employee, contact their new employer, or interfere with their job search. These actions create tortious interference claims and can result in liability that far exceeds the damage from the original reviews. For a detailed guide, see: Handling Disgruntled Employees Posting Negative Reviews Online →