When the "Experts" Get It Wrong: What the SHRM Lawsuit Teaches Us About Real HR

"When asked what he learned, he could not remember specifics." - Business Insider

The $11.5 million verdict against SHRM—the world's largest HR organization—isn't just industry news. It's a mirror reflecting what happens when organizations talk about best practices but fail to embody them.

Let that sink in: An organization that advises HR professionals on investigating discrimination complaints was found liable for racial discrimination and retaliation against one of its own employees.

The optics are more than bad. They're instructive.

At AllProfit HR, this verdict weighs on me—not as schadenfreude, but as validation of why our work matters. When compliance becomes performative and workplace culture is treated as checkbox exercise rather than living practice, real people get hurt.

We've been saying this for years. In our 2024 articles on Navigating HR Investigations and Whistleblowing: Promoting Integrity and Accountability, we emphasized that investigations require more than policy—they demand skill, fairness, and humanity.

According to Business Insider SHRM's investigator admitted he'd only undergone one training session on HR investigations just months before the discriminatory events occurred. When asked what he learned, he could not remember specifics.

This is the gap AllProfit HR was built to close. - Michelle Majette

Compliance Alone Is Not Enough

Workplaces need care. Workplaces need consciousness. Workplaces need trauma-informed practices that honor the lived experiences of people who show up every day.

The SHRM case underscores what we've been teaching: workplace culture is shaped by daily choices—how we listen, how we investigate, how we protect, and how we lead.

Here's What Real HR Looks Like

Our Performance & Accountability Systems, HR Systems & Strategy Builder, and Workplace Empowerment Experience don't just help you avoid lawsuits. They transform how your organization operates:

• Train leaders to conduct thorough, impartial investigations

• Build anti-retaliation policies that actually protect whistleblowers

• Create psychological safety so discrimination doesn't flourish in silence

• Implement trauma-informed practices that center equity and belonging

Because when the "experts" can't practice what they preach, it's time to partner with practitioners who do.

Your Next Step

If your organization is ready to build systems of workplace empowerment, strengthen investigation protocols, or train your workforce in ways that center people and equity—my team and I are here.

Schedule a discovery call today

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Let's build workplaces where people can lead with purpose and work on purpose—every single day.

Because this? This is what people-powered, purpose-driven, profit-for-all actually looks like.