A mystery sexual harassment firing, no explanation

Dear J.T. & Dale: My son was terminated for sexual harassment. He has no idea what he did wrong or who accused him. Now he has the stigma and employers won’t hire him because they are afraid of a lawsuit for ignoring the accusation. What can he do to clear his name? — Joan

J.T.: I would encourage your son to explore some educational tools on sexual harassment. We find that many men don’t even know what they did wrong until it’s pointed out to them. Since his company won’t tell him, he’s going to have to educate himself and see if he can identify it.

DALE: It seems so wrong to be fired without a whiff of due process. Of course, he may know the real story and not want to tell his mother.

J.T.: However, if he truly can’t figure it out, he could call the HR department and demand that they articulate the claim. He should also ask what is being said about him when employers do a reference check. It’s very possible his former company is simply saying that he was terminated for a policy violation. If so, your son can say in job interviews: “I was let go but not told why. I’ve tried to research possible causes and have asked them directly to tell me, but they won’t. I can tell you it’s had a powerful impact on my life. I just want to get back to work. Whoever hires me is going to get someone who is extra careful to follow all employer policies to ensure I’m never blindsided again.”

DALE: I’m all for checking to see what the employer is saying, and, given the secrecy around his firing, I bet they are not mentioning sexual harassment to potential employers. And that will be liberating news. Rather than J.T.’s approach of going on about not knowing why he was let go, I say that he takes this opportunity to choose a likely cause. For instance, many sexual harassment claims come down to a word, phrase or sentence, often in the form of a joke or offhand comment. So, let’s hope he could honestly say something like, “I repeated an off-color joke, and someone overheard it and took offense.” Then, he can go into a version of J.T.’s suggestion about what he’s learned and how it won’t happen again. Many hiring managers will sympathize; others won’t. But, with those who do, the explanation gives shape to the events and will stand up to the old employer telling a recruiter he was terminated and isn’t eligible for rehire. Doing so, he clears his own name. Dear J.T. & Dale: My company is setting up offices in England. I visited there once and would love to go back. But I don’t see myself living there more than a year or two as I would miss the U.S. Any thoughts on how I can pitch to my company that I go over there for a bit? — Arthur

DALE: I suspect that the company will want a few Yanks to go over temporarily, so you might be the perfect candidate. However, your interest can be a bit tricky in terms of office politics — your current managers are unlikely to be pleased

that you’re trying to leave them. (If they are pleased, that’s a bigger problem.) You don’t want to seem too eager, too soon. Start by quietly learning all you can about the new office, especially who’s going to head the new office and who will do the hiring.

J.T.: Then, I would find out what tasks are going to be handled in that location and how they tie in to the work you do for the company. From there, put together a short pitch on how you think you could assist in their getting up to par faster. The more value you can quantify, the easier it will be for them to see the value in sending you!

DALE: And in bringing you home — think through how your current team can function in your absence and how you’ll ease back in.

Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a career coach and the founder of the leading career site www.workitdaily.com. Dale Dauten is founder of The Innovators’ Lab and author of a novel about H.R., “The Weary Optimist.” Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via email, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803.