Lauren Paxton

For every headline-grabbing story of an executive fallen from grace, or a corporate C-suite torn apart by accusations of misconduct, hundreds if not thousands of episodes of equal or greater measure never come to light. Why? The leadership of most organizations know that a deftly-performed workplace investigation is both the means and the ends when responding to high-stakes workplace disputes. In addition to serving the practical function of enabling the organization to gather the information it needs to make a thoughtful and appropriate determination on how to proceed, the interview and document-gathering process of an investigation permits the aggrieved and the alleged transgressor an opportunity to be heard. When conducted properly, a workplace investigation is both a tool that serves the organization and the modality that brings the matter to a conclusion. In this presentation, Paxton shares insights and best practices for workplace investigations, as well as her perspectives on the way organizations can mitigate the risk of the catastrophic public and private fallout when C-suite disputes spill into the public sphere. Paxton draws on her unique background as a former federal prosecutor and a workplace investigator in private practice.