Due Process and Education Secretary DeVoss

Although some people might be upset by the new ruling, most will understand that due process is an important component in dealing with any accusation of misbehavior.  This is especially true when the allegations are about sexual misconduct and most often he/she accusations and denials.

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Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss recently acknowledged the seriousness of this issue and need to protect the victim – while at the same time increasing the rights of the accused to due process.

I have been writing and training on this issue for years.  I am a strong advocate of fair-play and due process.  Indeed, I wrote my book:  Conducting Workplace Investigations:  Designated Investigator as a result of seeing how one-sided so many workplace evaluations and investigations were. 

I’ve also created two workshops for Illumeo that deals with this issue:  Interviewing:  The Art and Science and Investigating a Complaint in the Workplace. 

Although these courses were designed for the workplace – they are also applicable to allegations at school.  And, they tie in with the intent of Education Secretary De.Voss.

Equity v. Equality

Have we gone too far in our politically correct concept of treating all people as "equal" in the workplace? Are we rewarding those whose performance isn't as good as those who perform well? Why do we disparage merit raises? Why do we act shocked when a company like G.E. or Cypress Semiconductor creates metrics to reward those who do better and actually fire those who are on the bottom of the evaluation pile?

If you owned your own business, and there weren't compliance laws to worry about, or as here in California, the Labor Relations Board, wouldn't you differentiate between those that really supported your business and those that merely went through the motions trying to get a paycheck? I think so.