Twice bitten?

Normal practice would be to enforce your equal opportunities policy. The staff in question will have to be separated as the female employee is likely to be distressed. While it may be tempting to offer her paid leave while the issue is investigated, unfortunately this may give the impression that she is the one being suspended. Make sure that this does not happen.

If you have other branches, it may be possible second one of them so they do not come into contact during the investigation. However, if there is no other way to separate them it should be the director who is suspended while the investigation is carried out.

The woman may well have made an unfounded claim in the past and this may cause you to doubt her honesty but, initially, you must take the claim seriously and investigate properly. Take a written statement from her and ascertain - as part of the investigation process - what she would like to happen as a result of her complaint.

It is likely that, at least, she is seeking an apology and that the harassment should cease. However, she may be extremely upset about the whole ordeal. Having understood from her precisely what the complaint is and what she seeks, you should then seek a response from him. Having gathered all the information, including statements of witnesses, you then have to decide the route you intend to pursue.

The evidence may be overwhelming that he is indeed guilty and you would clearly need to deal with him under your disciplinary procedures. On the other hand, the evidence may indicate that this is an unfounded and malicious claim. In this case, you would then take disciplinary action against her. You need to be very careful that you do not allow her previous unfounded claim to unduly influence your decision.

In the event that the employment of the director is not terminated, but disciplinary action is taken against him, that course of action has to remain confidential. You would inform the woman that action has been taken and that you are satisfied that the issue is unlikely to recur.

Revisit your EO policy and see if there are any weaknesses in the policy, system, training and operation of the procedure to identify any updates or improvements needed. If the policy has fallen short of its remit, retraining sessions for all would appear to be a necessity.