Most people became acutely aware of the term sexual harassment in 1991
when Anita Hill took her place at the witness table and testified against
Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas. In fact, that year the number of
sexual harassment cases reported in corporate America increased 58 percent and
have climbed steadily ever since.
If that statistic doesn’t get your attention, consider that the average jury award against employers in such situations is $250,000. That amount often triples when attorney fees and litigation costs are added to the mix.
Then consider the fact that managers can be named as codefendants in harassment lawsuits. All this adds up to the fact that IT managers need to take harassment extremely seriously. Here is what you need to know to maintain a harassment-free (and lawsuit-free) workplace.
Defining the hostile work environment
According to the law, there are two forms of sexual harassment:
- Quid pro quo harassment, which means "this for that," is where a supervisor threatens to fire or not promote an employee if he or she doesn’t have sex with that supervisor.
- Hostile work environment harassment is where speech or conduct is “severe or pervasive” enough to create a hostile or abusive work environment. Examples of inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature include sexually oriented jokes, sexually explicit e-mail, screen savers, posters, cartoons, and graffiti, and unwanted verbal and physical contact. The standard used by civil rights agencies and courts in determining whether a hostile work environment exists is whether a reasonable person, in the same or similar circumstances, would find the conduct offensive.
Without saying a word, a manager can be part of the harassment
The definition of hostile work environments sometimes confounds legal scholars because it often entails so many subjective standards of behavior. But here’s something not subject to interpretation: You, as a manager, may be innocent of any kind of sexual harassment yourself, but if the workplace you manage is construed as sexually hostile by any one of your employees and you don’t take appropriate action, you and your company can be held liable in a court of law.
Consider these recent cases: In Faragher vs. City of Boca Raton (No. 97-282), the Supreme Court ruled that companies may be held liable if supervisors sexually harass workers even if the employees do not report the harassment. In Ellerth vs. Burlington Industries (No. 97-569), the Supreme Court ruled that companies may be held liable even if the employees suffered no tangible loss. There have also been cases in which a manager was named as codefendant with the company for not preventing harassing behavior within his or her staff or for not taking appropriate action after a report was made.
Put it in writing
Chrys Martin focuses on employment law from the management perspective in the Portland, OR, office of Bullivant Houser Bailey. She said that managers have “the legal responsibility to make sure the workplace is free from harassment or discrimination.”
“Managers should ensure that their employees do not feel uncomfortable because of behavior in the workplace, such as teasing, taunting, jokes, and inappropriate gestures,” said Martin.
To help create this environment, every employer needs a comprehensive policy that prohibits all types of harassment. “The policy needs to include a definition of what could constitute harassment or create a hostile work environment, information on who to report to, and a nonretaliation provision,” said Martin.
Employees must also be provided with a copy of the company's policy and trained on what constitutes harassment and discrimination. In addition, employees need to know what steps to take if they become victims of such behavior.
Carol Merchasin, a partner at the Chicago office of Seyfarth Shaw, also works in the area of employment law. She designs and develops training sessions for clients on a wide range of employment law topics, including the Internet and dating relationships between managers and subordinates.
According to Merchasin, when courts rule against a plaintiff in a sexual harassment suit, many times it’s because a company can prove that it had a detailed harassment policy in place and that it took appropriate action when a report was made. Such measures can reduce a company’s and a manager’s liability.
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Is a hostile workplace only defined in the context of sexually oriented content? Can the hostility also be of a non-sexual nature?
Posted by Someone on Saturday, March 01 2003 02:05 PM