When There’s No Legal Claim, But Still a Problem to Solve
Most attorneys working with employers have had the conversation: a client calls with concerns about troubling behavior in the workplace. For example, the employer may have received a complaint or observed behavior involving a manager who undermines employees, a pattern of exclusion on a team, or a dynamic that is clearly damaging morale. While the concerns may not involve a violation of law, they could still violate company policy or reflect behaviors that undermine a productive work environment.
At Faro Point Consulting, this is where we do some of our most impactful work.
A Trusted Resource for Attorneys
When clients bring forward concerns that do not meet the threshold for unlawful conduct, it can be difficult to know how to advise them. You want to be helpful, but there is no legal remedy to offer. The instinct may be to acknowledge the concern but explain that it falls outside of your scope. Referring clients to a neutral, third-party partner like Faro Point allows you to provide meaningful support in these challenging situations. You stay in your advisory lane while giving your client a credible, responsible next step to understand and address concerns.
And if legal questions do arise later, early engagement with a neutral third party can strengthen your client’s position by showing they acted with diligence, care, and expediency.
The Gray Area Is Not a Safe Zone
There is a common, but risky, assumption that if alleged misconduct does not appear to be illegal, it does not require action. That is rarely true. Subtle patterns of exclusion, belittling remarks, retaliatory tendencies, or unaddressed conflict can erode team cohesion, weaken organizational health, and undermine mission focus and productivity, ultimately affecting the company’s bottom line. Left unchecked, these behaviors can become significant liabilities, not necessarily because of what happened, but because of what did not.
Courts and regulatory bodies often ask what happened and how the employer responded. Inaction can be interpreted as indifference or organizational tolerance. By contrast, early, proactive steps taken in good faith demonstrate that the organization took its responsibilities seriously, even if the issue did not rise to the level of unlawful conduct.
Why a Neutral Third Party Can Help
In complex or ambiguous cases, internal teams often feel stuck. HR may be perceived as lacking objectivity due to their proximity to the issue. Managers may lack the training or the trust to address the concern effectively. Leadership may sense something is wrong but hesitate to act without a clear path forward.
That is where we come in. We operate as a neutral, objective, and independent third party, bringing clarity to complex situations and surfacing critical insights that internal teams may not be in a position to uncover. Our work often includes:
Fact-finding reviews for sensitive concerns, providing unbiased, actionable insights into interpersonal dynamics, leadership challenges, or patterns of behavior so that leaders can make informed, timely, and appropriate decisions
Organizational assessments that examine broader workplace climate, trust, culture, and structural dynamics. These assessments can identify themes that extend beyond one team or event, and offer leadership a clearer picture of where communication, accountability, or inclusion efforts may be breaking down
Guidance and strategy support to help leaders respond with clarity, care, and credibility, including when policy or accountability frameworks need to be built or strengthened
Our role is to help clients understand what is happening beneath the surface and respond in a way that builds credibility, trust, and stability.
Give Your Clients a Next Step
If you are advising a client who is facing recurring team friction, conduct that is disruptive but does not appear to be illegal, or behavior that is hurting workplace culture, your client does not have to walk away from the conversation empty-handed.
You can offer solutions that address the concern, reinforces your role as a responsive advisor, and help protect your client from reputational, legal, and cultural risk down the line.
We are always open to a conversation before the situation becomes urgent.
