2026 ACSA Personnel Institute

As complaints about employees continue to rise in schools and workplaces, district leaders face increasing pressure to respond promptly, fairly, and consistently while minimizing legal and operational risk. This session will explore practical strategies for managing complaints involving employee misconduct, workplace conflict, professionalism, harassment, discrimination, and performance concerns. Attendees will learn how to establish effective intake and documentation practices, conduct appropriate preliminary assessments, determine when investigations are necessary, and communicate throughout the process. The presentation will also address common pitfalls that can escalate complaints and provide proactive approaches to improving workplace culture, accountability, and employee relations. Participants will leave with actionable tools to help their districts respond to complaints confidently, consistently, and lawfully.

If you are buried in complaints, you are not alone. Complaints in the forms of UCPs, Complaints Against Employees, Sexual Harassment, and others have become common and at times, overwhelming. If your department is having a hard time managing the time demands, this session is for you. We will review the most common complaint types, critical tasks, and tips of the trade for streamlining your processes.

Discrimination complaints often arise not from a single decision, but from patterns of communication, documentation, and inconsistent application of policies over time. This session examines common missteps that increase exposure to discrimination claims in the workplace, particularly within public education and public sector employment contexts. Participants will explore how everyday personnel decisions can unintentionally create risk, and how to identify and correct these issues before they escalate into formal complaints. The session will also provide practical strategies for improving documentation, consistency, and decision-making practices to reduce legal exposure and support equitable treatment of employees.
Key Takeaways:
• Identify common administrative and supervisory practices that can unintentionally lead to discrimination complaints
• Understand how inconsistency in documentation and policy application increases legal and organizational risk
• Apply practical strategies to strengthen fairness, transparency, and defensibility in personnel decision-making
add Jacqueline M. Litra
Lisa B. Mori