Question: We have a production assistant who has complained twice to his supervisor about unwanted physical contact by another coworker. He described it as sexual but was unsure if it could have been an accident as the coworker was squeezing past in a tight space. There were no witnesses, so other than documenting his statement, is there anything else that we need to do to protect ourselves?
Answer: Yes. You’re obligated to initiate a prompt investigation if you receive enough information that the coworker’s behavior may have violated your policy against harassment, even if the physical contact could have been accidental. Employers should take every harassment complaint seriously. If there are enough facts resulting from the investigation to establish a violation of your anti-harassment policy (in this case, sexual harassment), then you must take immediate and effective action to make the behavior stop.
Court Rules Prompt HR Action Shields Employer from Liability
In a recent court case, a production worker at a tortilla manufacturing plant sued her employer and alleged that a coworker sexually harassed her in three separate incidents of unwanted touching. She alleged that in the first two instances, the coworker pressed against her while passing by, and initially she wasn’t sure if it was accidental. The parties disputed whether she reported the incidents to her supervisor. But the third time, she said the coworker groped her as she was leaning over to set down some boxes. She clearly reported the conduct to her supervisor, which prompted an investigation by Human Resources. The company investigated right away but wasn’t able to confirm the employee’s account. Nonetheless, the company issued a written letter to the coworker directing him to change his behavior toward the employee. No further incidents occurred after that. The employee later sued. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the employer could not be held liable for coworker harassment in this case. The employee’s earlier reports were ambiguous in describing the first two contacts as “accidents” and were not escalated to HR until the final incident. Once HR was notified, the company promptly investigated and took appropriate corrective action that prevented recurrence of the conduct (Sanchez v. El Milagro, Inc. dba El Milagro, 7th Cir, May 2026).
Proactive Steps to Manage Close Quarters and Accidental Contact
Even if you determine that close physical contact between coworkers was accidental, you can take steps to prevent it from happening again. In a noisy workplace environment where one employee needs to pass behind another in close quarters, you may have a policy that allows an employee to tap the other on the shoulder to get their attention and make room to pass by. You can also assess whether changes to the physical layout of the workspace could help, and you can direct employees to respect each other’s personal space.
Vigilant Members: For any questions about how to respond to allegations of harassment or hostile work environment, contact your Vigilant Law Group employment attorney. Also see our Legal Guides, Conducting an Internal Investigation, Harassment in the Workplace: Avoiding Liability, and our Model Policy, Policy Against Harassment.
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