Be sure to also document who you didn't hire.

If the same person who made a hiring decision also makes the firing decision, it's almost impossible for the ex-employee to sue and argue she was terminated because of race, age or gender discrimination. That's especially true if the employee was chosen over other applicants who didn't belong to the same protected class. But to succeed in court, you need to also document the applicants you did not hire.

Recent case: Lynne, a 49-year-old black woman, was hired over two applicants--one was white and the other was under 40. But the hiring manager soon began writing Lynne up for poor performance.

...