How to Handle Harassment from Customers?
Customer-facing employees sometimes have to deal with awkward or unpleasant behavior by those customers they are trying to help. One key factor is that employees should know that the employer “has their back.” This is important because employers can be legally liable for harassment and discrimination coming from clients, vendors and customers, as illustrated by the following examples:
EEOC ordered a staffing agency to pay $875,000 to eligible claimants after the agency was found to have complied with client requests for male workers only.
A casual diner issued an apology and fired two servers who complied with a racist customer’s request to re-seat Black patrons farther away.
A Costco employee who filed a hostile workplace claim won a judgement following more than a year of stalking, videotaping and unwanted touching by a customer, which received no action from the employer.
Harassment by people outside employers can range from “Annoying” to “Disruptive” to “Discriminatory” to “Emotionally Damaging/Threatening” to “Physically Dangerous for All,” according to online sources.
“Disruptive” conduct may be best remedied by training supervisors and/or employees in de-escalation techniques; calling police immediately may cause more of a problem than necessary if the possibility of discriminatory charges exists and should be a last resort.
“Annoying” conduct is best addressed directly by the supervisor to the perpetrator, who may not realize how they are coming across.
In the case of “Discriminatory” behavior, employee surveys indicate that the availability of anonymous reporting channels is very important, especially for younger employees: half of those surveyed said they would only report harassment if they could do so anonymously.
If conduct is “Emotionally Damaging or Threatening,” an outside relationship may well be involved. In such a case a potentially affected employee should notify their employer or supervisor of that possibility. An example would be informing the employer of a restraining order or other such provision or circumstance.
In the most extreme case, the recommended courses of action are de-escalation and calling law enforcement. Private security guards must be very carefully vetted by their employer and the client as to how they would handle dangerous situations. (An example of this is that of a guard at a Home Depot store contracted through a vendor; the guard had a prior criminal record and shot another person in a tense standoff, where shooting was unwarranted. Home Depot and the security firm are being sued for wrongful death by the victim’s parents.)