The world’s largest human resources trade group argued that the plaintiff shouldn’t be allowed to portray it as an expert in HR during a trial that begins with jury selection Monday. A judge disagreed.
The Society for Human Resource Management, known as SHRM, was sued in 2022 by former employee Rehab Mohamed, who alleges that she faced racial discrimination and retaliation while working there as an instructional designer.
In September, SHRM took the unconventional move of filing a motion requesting that the federal court bar Mohamed from introducing evidence or argument that the organization is a specialist in HR best practices.
Doing so “would improperly hold SHRM to a higher standard than any other employer facing similar claims, confuse the issues, and mislead the jury,” the organization argued in the motion.
In October, US District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher denied SHRM’s request, saying its “asserted expertise in human resources is integral to the circumstances of this case and cannot reasonably be excluded.”
The decision could be “very damaging” for SHRM because it means the plaintiff can effectively tell the jury that the trade group should, in fact, be held to a higher standard than other employers, said Betsy Bulat, an equity partner with labor and employment firm Martenson, Hasbrouck, and Simon.
“It makes them look more culpable,” she said.
The judge also ruled that the Colorado jury could consider awarding punitive damages. This is significant as it means that if the jury sides with the plaintiff, “there could be a huge award,” said Stacey Lee, an attorney and law professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School.
SHRM has consistently denied Mohamed’s claims. The trade group does not comment on litigation, spokesperson Eddie Burke wrote in an email to Business Insider. “The case is going to trial because SHRM has a longstanding practice of not settling employment cases that have been fully and thoroughly investigated and determined to be meritless,” he said.
Lawyers for Mohamed declined to comment.
The trial is set to begin while SHRM is embroiled in various controversies, as Business Insider recently reported. These include a new attendance policy that penalizes workers who arrive even a minute after 9 a.m.; a memo about a “conservative” dress code that bans sequins; and a companywide meeting in which Taylor said some staffers were “entitled,” “complacent,” and “sloppy.”
During pre-trial discovery, SHRM revealed the existence of two other discrimination complaints from employees. One case, filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2018, was settled. The other, filed with a California regulator in 2021, is pending.
SHRM, which claims to have nearly 340,000 members, offers educational materials and credentialing programs to help HR professionals advance in their careers. Mohamed’s suit alleges that SHRM doesn’t follow some of the guidance it doles out to others.
Last year, the judge called the Mohamed case “messy” and said the evidence showed that the same HR person tasked with investigating her complaints was also ghostwriting emails for Mohamed’s boss and drafting Mohamed’s termination paperwork around the same time.
SHRM’s industry guide on “How to Conduct a Workplace Investigation,” dated about two weeks after that decision, said investigators “should focus on being impartial to gather and consider relevant facts and should not push the investigation in any particular direction.”
Additional reporting by Jack Newsham.
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