HR boss asks I talk Lucy out of sexual harassment claim

The CEO is back in the office and so are most of the top leadership, who walked around asking us what we did for our holidays. I always find such conversations somewhat uncomfortable.

On the day after his return, he came to the dinning area and found some staff having lunch. He said: "Happy New Year folks, how was your holiday?” One of the managers started to talk about his holiday. The CEO pretended to be listening, but after a minute jumped in and regaled all of us with details about his holiday.

He talked about going to this “boutique hotel in South Coast together with his family went and how he acquired a massive sun tan.” Some of the managers keenly listened and kept making polite comments, but I could tell that they were not fully interested in the details. We were relieved when the session ended and we all resumed work on our desks.

I was busy working on a presentation about plans for the year when the HR lady walked in. I have not seen her in the New Year, so I did the usual drill of finding out how her holiday plans went. At the end of her conversation she said: “ Josphat, I need your help in talking to your friend?” I asked her, "which friend?” I assumed it must be someone outside the office. She said: “your pal, Lucy.” To be honest, I do not consider Lucy to be my friend, but I guess since we worked together people believe we are friends. She said: "Your pal is threatening to make trouble for the boss.”

This was juicy. The story is that Lucy was not confirmed at the end of her probation period as expected. I asked: "Was there a problem?” She said: "You see, Lucy reports to the head of strategy and he was not particularly pleased with her performance.” I was not aware of Lucy’s reporting line. I always assumed that she reported to the CEO.

She countinued: "Lucy has not taken it kindly and now says the head of strategy sexually harassed her.” This was not good at all. I said: "Now what do you want me to do- if the guy really harassed her, he should be dealt with.” At this point, I noticed that the HR manager was getting somewhat uncomfortable. She said: "Well, you know it is not as simple as you think.” This was strange coming from a HR person. The HR manager proceeded to spill the beans. It turns out that she has a relationship with the head of strategy. "We even have a child together,” she revealed. This was news to me. How did I miss all of this?

The HR manager had a simple ask. “Please use your influence to get Lucy to withdraw her accusations, if this goes any further my guy will lose his job. We cannot have that, I cannot have that.” I always marvel at how people imagine that I have unnecessary sway over others.

I told her “how do you propose I persuade Lucy?” The HR manager gave me some tips which did not make sense at all, but I just humoured her and listened. I had to manage my response since I know it is a bit dangerous to antagonise HR yet one cannot ignore sexual abuse stories. So, I told her, “I will talk to her, but I cannot promise anything.”

I was mulling over what to do when Lucy walked into my office an hour later and told me about her holiday. She then closed the door and said, “Josphat, I have a confession to make.” She giggled like a small girl and said; “My fiancé proposed on January 1st and now I will be joining him in Dubai.” I offered my heartfelt congratulations and asked her; “when do you leave?” She said,” I leave this week, I came to hand in my resignation; and just like that my dilemma disappeared.