Employers should maintain confidentiality to the extent reasonably possible, but absolute confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.
Best practices include:
- Limiting disclosure to individuals with a legitimate business need to know
- Avoiding public discussion of allegations
- Instructing witnesses not to retaliate against participants
- Employers must balance confidentiality with fairness and transparency
Over-disclosure may create privacy or defamation concerns, while under-communication may create workplace mistrust.
California law requires prompt and effective corrective action, but does not require disclosure of all investigation details to all employees.
