Dive Brief:

• Writing at Forbes, contributor Liz Ryan, a former Fortune 500 HR executive and CEO at the Human Workplace, says employers won't find themselves in court defending unspeakable actions on the part of managers, employees or vendors if those behaviors are not tolerated when they first crop up.
• While settling with employees who have been harrassed is the right thing to do, of course, a better option is never to let things get out of hand. Ryan writes that a workplace culture is a stronger glue and a more powerful force than any policy or threat of punishment you can think up.
• She adds that many times employees and ex-employees sue their employers when they've grown tired of complaining about bad treatment or outright abuse. When they exhaust all other channels, they call a lawyer.

Dive Insight:

HR executives have to run their business according to a solid ethical compass and remind people that trust and respect are the only things that keep your organization strong and healthy. Employees will still sue you, but they will lose when you hold to that high standard.

Employees sue their companies and win when six or 10 or 20 people who should be paying attention put their heads in the sand and pretend that a problem brewing right under their noses isn’t real or isn’t as bad as people say it is. In the end, they lose the case or settle it out of court. According to Ryan, things should never have gotten that far and it's the CHRO's job to make sure they don't.