Any manager who has ever gone to the agency’s human resources office to get help with a problem employee has heard the question, “Where’s your documentation?” Documentation is just as important for a manager who has been or who might be accused of discrimination in an equal employment opportunity case, but there’s a twist. In the EEO arena, the manager is in a reactive mode. There are times and methods and uses of documenting in an EEO case that can significantly decrease the likelihood that a manager will be found guilty of discrimination. The fundamental difference between taking a disciplinary…

In 2010, the Ask the Lawyer column will be written by Bill Bransford, managing partner of Shaw, Bransford & Roth, P.C. For more information on Bill or the law firm, please visit http://www.shawbransford.com/. Archived columns written by Greg Rinckey will still be available on this blog in the section below.