Finding the Facts - Disciplinary and Harassment Investigation

It is important for the investigator to remind the witnesses that they will not suffer any retaliation because they have provided information during the investigation. Reiterate that if the witness feels they have been retaliated against for participating in the investigation, they should report the alleged retaliation immediately.

LCW Practice Advisor

iv. Contacting Persons to Be Interviewed Contacting the persons to be interviewed is a critical part of the interview process. Districts should have an established procedure identifying:

 Who is responsible for contacting the person(s) to be interviewed,

 How the persons to be interviewed should be contacted, i.e., either verbally or in writing,

 What information should be provided to the person(s) to be interviewed, and

 What admonitions, if any, should be given to the person(s) to be interviewed.

For example, if an internal investigator is conducting the investigation, it may be appropriate for the investigator to contact the person(s) to be interviewed directly and schedule an interview. However, if an outside investigator is conducting the investigation, it may be more appropriate for someone from within the district to contact the person(s) to be interviewed and schedule the interviews on behalf of the investigator. Whether or not the initial contact with the person to be interviewed is verbal or in writing and what information should be provided to the person(s) to be interviewed, depends on who it is that is going to be interviewed. It is often advisable to provide the person(s) to be interviewed with a “pre-interview memorandum” notifying him or her of the general nature of the investigation (See Section 3(c)(i) below for suggested language). a. The Interview: Where, When? Preferably, the interview should take place at the workplace during work hours. However, there may be situations where a neutral site is selected as the interview location. If an interview is conducted outside regularly scheduled working hours, the employee interviewed must be paid overtime (as required by district rules and regulations) for time spent in the interview. In addition, the interview should only last for a reasonable period of time, taking into consideration the complexity of the allegations being investigated. Reasonable breaks should be taken to allow the employee being interviewed to attend to his/her own personal physical necessities or to consult with counsel or other representative who may be present (but not while a question is pending!). 3. I NTERVIEW P ROTOCOL

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