ALBANY, N.Y. — Auto/Mate’s chief people officer, Dave Druzynski, will discuss the legal and monetary repercussions of harassment claims and offer best practices and training recommendations to prevent a claim from happening in the first place at the upcoming NADA convention in San Francisco, the company announced.

“Nowadays, harassment allegations are hitting mainstream media and social media outlets so fast, you could have people staging online boycotts of your business before you even hear about the alleged harassment,” said Druzynski. “A nightmare like this can be catastrophic to your dealership’s reputation and bottom line.”

If your dealership’s anti-harassment strategy involves handing out an outdated policy buried in an employee handbook, or showing “corny” 1980s VHS training tapes, your dealership and your employees are vulnerable, Druzynski added.

“Acceptable behaviors in your dealership are not defined by your anti-harassment policy; they are defined by the behaviors you choose to tolerate,” he said. “When people hear harassment, most think of sexual harassment, but harassment comes in all forms. For example, unwelcome or offensive conduct that is based on an individual’s race, religion or disability, or even some of those ‘harmless’ pranks that you play on the new hire, can constitute illegal harassment “

Druzynski’s one-hour workshop, “Prevent Workplace Harassment,” will be held in Room 3003W on Thursday, Jan. 24 at 1:00 p.m. and in Room 3002W on Saturday, Jan. 26, at 10:30 a.m.