What do I do about harassment complaints if the conduct occurred after work hours and the employee doesn’t want to file a “formal” complaint?

Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), employers who learn of potential unlawful harassment, discrimination or retaliation must conduct a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the complaint.

Further, under the FEHA, a supervisor’s conduct may create strict liability for employers for FEHA violations regardless of whether the employer was aware of that supervisor’s conduct — including when the supervisor is either the harasser or receives complaints of harassment from employees but fails to act on them.

One commonly misunderstood situation is the “off-the-record” complaint — where the