Q:  My employee is suing me.  What level of communication should I have with him/her?

A:  There may be times when you are sued by an employee for workers’ compensation benefits, harassment, discrimination, etc.  In any other situation, ideally, you would not have any communication with the suing party.  However, that is extremely difficult to do when the suing party is your current employee and you need to work together to accomplish business goals.  In this situation, you should limit your discussions with the employee only to business activities and accomplishing business tasks.  Do not discuss the case with the employee at all.  You do not want to say or do things that may implicate you or make your case worse.

If the employee tries to discuss the case with you, indicate you have been instructed by your attorney not to discuss the matter and direct the employee to the attorneys.  If you question whether an employee’s communication to you may cross into the merits of the litigated case, consult your attorney to craft an appropriate response or to change the flow of communications to between the attorneys.