Dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace
Managers are urged to take pro-active steps to address the potential for sexual harassment in the workplace - and the threats it poses for the organization, including legal exposure.
Ellen Simon, an attorney and consultant on civil rights issues and employment matters in Cleveland, Ohio and Sedona, Ariz., is the past chair of the Employment Rights Section of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
Sexual harassment, she explains, is defined as any behavior in the workplace of a sexual nature that is unwelcome, severe or pervasive. Behaviors can range from sexual advances and inappropriate verbal comments, to offensive communication in e-mails, computer screen savers or pornography at work.
"Another kind of sexual harassment is called quid pro quo," Simon explains. "Sleep with me, or I'll fire you. Go out with me, and I'll give you a job. Quid pro quo is submitting to or rejecting a sexual advance when it's used to make an employment decision. I don't think you can prevent sexual harassment, but you can prevent it from becoming a lawsuit."
Simon offers these tips to managers:
- Be sure that your company has a clear policy about sexual harassment.
"Within the policy, there need to be multiple avenues for complaining," Simon adds. "I often hear from women that the person they're supposed to complain to is the person who's harassing them. So there needs to be more than one way to express a concern."
Supervisors should encourage employees to complain if they feel sexually harassed, and follow up by making sure that any inappropriate behavior has stopped.
"You also have to make sure there's no retaliation to the victim for reporting the harassment," Simon says. "Companies may give a warning that's ineffectual. Give a warning, a second warning, and if that doesn't work, fire the harasser."
Hold training seminars so that employees understand what constitutes sexual harassment, and what they can do if they think they're being harassed.
Simon notes that many harassers are repeat offenders with multiple victims, and may be protected because of their position in the company.
"They may be a higher-up, or make a lot of money for the company, so are allowed to remain," she says. "You never know which victim is going to go to a lawyer, and a company could be exposed to substantial liability if it's found that there were other victims in the past, and nothing was done."