Posted by Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C. in News
Apr 15 2025
View the podcast transcript here
Garrison Law Partner Nina Pirrotti was recently featured on the latest episode of “From Lawyer to Employer,” a Shipman & Goodwin LLP podcast. Here, she joined host Daniel Schwartz to discuss where employers often go wrong—from inconsistently enforced policies and botched investigations to poorly trained supervisors and missteps in handling accommodations—and how to do better. She dubbed the episode: Don’t Let This Happen to You!
Nina shared that if an employee is terminated from their job for a supposed policy violation, the employer should ensure they are enforcing those policies for everyone, stating, “Are [these policies] consistently applied across the board regardless of whether you are in a protected class or engaged in protected activity or not? And if so, great, and if not, you make that decision to disproportionately discipline our client at your peril.”
These policies should also apply to everyone regardless of their rank within a company. She recounts a time when a Fortune 500 company fired one of its top “rainmakers” after he engaged in sexual harassment with a subordinate, noting that, “All you need to do is one time, follow a policy to the letter when it comes to a rainmaker or a really important person in your company to send a message loud and clear – this is not tolerated, and if you do this kind of conduct, this is what happens to you. We don’t care who you are, whether you’re the person at the top of the food chain or at the bottom.”
She emphasizes the importance of following policies, not just having them in place, as “policies are only as good as the paper they are written on, and if you are not following your policies, you are really doing your company a tremendous disservice.”
She also discussed that it is essential to conduct thorough, thoughtful investigations in which the person bringing forth claims is treated in a respectful manner. Ms. Pirrotti observed:
They start with interviewing the client and doing it in a way, Dan, that makes sure that the client feels safe and heard and not have the proverbial white light in the room. So, the question isn’t, why didn’t you bring this up to us sooner? The question is, help me understand, how it is that we’re here today. Can you walk me through that please?
I can’t tell you how often people come to me and say, I tried to share my cell phone with them. They said I’m not interested; where I tried to direct them to these three individuals and then we find out from these three individuals, no, no one ever got in touch with me. So, it’s following through there on speaking with witnesses, on reviewing documents, on making credibility assessments.
Just because it’s, “he said, she said,” you don’t throw up your hands and say, oh can’t do anything. You evaluate who has the motive to lie? What are the facts that we know about in the periphery are consistent with what she is saying. Does she appear in demeanor, in words and actions to be sincere and what she’s bringing forth.
In her discussion about the importance of proper sexual harassment training, Ms. Pirrotti stated that even where supervisors are well-meaning, they can open the employer up to liability if they are not properly trained:
So, supervisors need to receive even a heightened level of training on how to address workplace issues, because once the supervisor is on notice, the employer begins to face liability, and that’s where the danger lies. So, the training has to not only elevate about what constitutes unlawful discrimination or harassment, but what the supervisor must do about it once it is on notice of it.
Ms. Pirrotti provided examples of a poorly trained supervisor who gave an employee the wrong advice about her rights and responsibilities after she complained about sexual assault, and another example of one who immediately gave the employee a separation package and tried to rush her out the door after she complained about sexual harassment. Both cases resulted in substantial settlements even though the supervisor did not intend to harm the employee.
Ms. Pirrotti also discussed the hallmarks of effective training about discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
Finally, Ms. Pirrotti weighed in on disability discrimination and FMLA interference and retaliation cases, how they differ, and the employer’s responsibility with respect to both.
To learn more, listen to the full episode here.
Nina Pirrotti is a partner at Garrison Law who focuses her practice on representing individuals in employment and civil rights litigation and negotiation. She is well-versed in all aspects of employment law, including discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, contract disputes, FMLA, wage violations, severance agreements, and whistleblower claims. She also advocates on behalf of students and faculty who have had their rights violated.
Dan Schwartz is a partner at Shipman & Goodwin LLP who focuses his practice on litigation in a variety of areas, including employment discrimination, FMLA, retaliation, whistleblowing, and more.
Posted by Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C. in News
Tagged Dan Schwartz, Nina Pirrotti, Podcast, Sexual Harassment
