Your VP is not exempt from your harassment policy

"You might as well put your two weeks in."

That's what a manager at Anthony Roofing Tecta America allegedly told an employee who complained about harassment. The company is now paying $700,000 to settle an EEOC suit alleging that a vice president used racial slurs and sexual comments, and that employees who reported it to management and HR got nowhere.

The EEOC's Deputy General Counsel said the legal risk is "particularly acute" when an officer is the harasser. So when a complaint names one, here's what a company should do.

1. Take the complaint seriously. Listen, write down exactly what the employee says, and never suggest the employee reconsider or wait.

2. Wall off the officer. Remove the accused from decisions affecting the complainant, and tell the officer in plain terms that retaliation is off limits.

3. Bring in someone independent. Nobody who reports to the accused should investigate. Use outside counsel or an outside investigator, and loop in the board to the fact that the investigation is happening.

4. Preserve the evidence. Issue a litigation hold covering email, texts, and chat messages. Tell the officer not to delete anything.

5. Protect the complainant without punishing them. Don't move or reassign the employee who complained. Offer options and let the employee choose. Even a minor change could be a sufficient adverse action to support a retaliation claim.

6. Investigate promptly and widely. Interview the complainant, the accused, and every witness, and ask whether anyone else has seen similar conduct. Harassers rarely stop at one person.

7. Remind everyone about retaliation. Witnesses are watching how this plays out. Make clear that participating in the investigation is protected.

8. Act on what you find. Discipline the officer the way you’d discipline a line employee for the same conduct.

9. Close the loop. Tell the complainant you finished and took corrective action, without sharing confidential details. Check back at 30 and 90 days.

10. Fix what let it happen. Ask why no one stopped this sooner, and review who hears complaints about leadership.

The officer's title doesn't change the rules. It only raises the price of ignoring them, and it's not worth the risk.