Finding the Facts - Disciplinary and Harassment Investigation

 Take particular care in admonishing the accused regarding the prohibitions against retaliation and advising the student/witness of what to do if he or she feels retaliatory conduct is occurring.  When interviewing a minor, have another neutral adult present. If the student has a trusted adult at the school, you may consider using that adult. However, this will generally not be appropriate if the trusted adult is a peer and colleague of the employee being investigated. Depending on the nature of the conduct being investigated, and the age of the witness, techniques may include: asking the witness first to write down in his or her own words what occurred (or state it verbally while you write it down), and then asking questions based on the written/oral statement; asking the witness to draw a picture; or asking the witness to act out or show you what occurred.  When interviewing a minor, parental consent is not required. Whether you contact a parent before the interview should depend on your assessment of whether this will facilitate the interview. Where you believe that the parent’s presence will put the student at ease and assist the fact gathering process, then contact the parent first. However, if you have reason to believe the parent will ask you not to speak to the student, or will interfere in the process, the better practice is to interview the student first and then advise the parent that the interview occurred. In particular, investigators should be careful where the facts are still largely unknown and there is a possibility that a student is accusing an employee of conduct that is actually occurring in the home. Always interview students separately and not in a group setting. Remember to ask student witnesses whom they have talked to before the interview. You will want to be able to assess to what extent the student’s report has been influenced by rumor or the experience/observations of other students.  When interviewing a minor, ask open-ended and non-suggestive questions. ix. Methods of Recording Interviews: To Tape Record or Not to Tape Record? It is strongly recommended that the suspect’s interview be tape recorded. It is imperative that the investigation provide an accurate and reliable record of the suspect’s statement and taping the interview is the most effective way to accomplish this. As for witness interviews there are advantages and disadvantages to tape recording that must be weighed by the investigator before considering whether or not to tape record. An advantage to tape recording is that it ensures an accurate record. When taking notes, it is often difficult to record all information that is being provided. Something that may not seem relevant or important when first said may later turn out to be a key fact that might have been missed if relying on the investigator’s notes only. The person interviewed may also later forget or deny saying something during an interview, regardless of what is reflected in the

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