Sexual Harassment Prevention

At Risk Organizations

Lest any organization consider itself too professional, too well managed, too well-informed to have to deal with sexual harassment issues, a note of caution is herewith suggested: all organizations are at risk. Companies as small as the corner grocery and as large as a major oil concern have found that their assumptions were flawed. They have paid a very high price in terms of their reputations, employee morale, and their bottom line. It is imprudent for today's organizations to be sanguine about their vulnerability to sexual harassment claims while doing business in a society that is saturated with sexual images and, in addition, is the most litigious country in the world.

Still, some organizations are at greater risk than others, and examples of these are listed below.

Temporary Relations with the Public

Organizations whose employees have temporary relationships with the public are at higher risk than others because harassers know they're unlikely to see the victim(s) again. Such organizations include, but are not limited to:

• restaurants
• hotels
• retail establishments
• airlines, train and bus companies
• health care agencies
• parks and other public places
• real estate firms

High Turnover

Some organizations are at high risk because there is a lot of turnover among employees. An explosive mix is created when very young employees work in crowded areas, are very busy, and are under a lot of stress. This is not to suggest that older employees behave more appropriately, but they generally need the jobs they have and are likely to be more on guard.

Organizations with External Salespeople and Other On-Customer-Site Employees

External salespeople and others who work on customer sites are often asked to have drinks and/or dinner with clients. Sometimes the drinks/dinner are in hotels where rooms are readily available. The customer knows that their "guest" wants to please them. If the customer is prone to harassing behavior, this can present an opportunity for them to take advantage of their "guest," creating a real quandary for the person who is put into a very awkward situation.

"Frat House" Organizations

In some organizations there is an "old boy" atmosphere where virtually anything goes. Men are usually in the majority (with the exception of support staff.) Crude language is the norm, teasing is de rigueur, risquŽ posters hang on the walls, and anyone who questions the atmosphere may find themselves ostracized at best or laid off at worst. In general, it has been shown that whenever one gender is in the majority, the minority is likely to be targeted in some way. This is equally true when it comes to race, religion, national origin, age, and the like.

New Kids on the Block (and Old Kids Too)

The first woman firefighter, the first woman police officer, the first male nurse-they have all—all have had their share of teasing and sometimes serious bullying as well. Indeed, as noted above, any worker who is in the minority is at risk of receiving such treatment. Their working lives can be hazardous to their health and to their organization's health as well. Wise "new kids" spend months on a new job getting a "handle" on both the spoken and unspoken rules in their new organization. And really wise ones find a mentor as fast as they can.

The Illusion of "Family"

Some organizations, especially small start-ups, enjoy thinking of themselves as "a family." In company cultures like these, employees indulge in telling jokes, sharing personal experiences, touching, hugging, passing around questionable cartoons or posters, and sending inappropriate emails and faxes to each other. Most of the employees will say they love the culture; some do not, but they seldom complain. After all, one doesn't complain about ones family . . . does one?

Other "At Risk" Organization Profiles

"Pressure-cooker" environments, e.g., newspapers, advertising agencies, and other deadline-driven organizations are sometimes the kind of places where stress is taken as a given and only those who can take the tension in the environment are likely to become long-term employees.

"Professional organizations" that believe their employees are too educated to indulge in inappropriate behavior, e.g., bio-tech, high-tech, pharmaceutical companies, financial services organizations have no clue about how dangerous the "ostrich" position can be. Take Astra Pharmaceuticals, for example. Not only did they have a $9 million judgment levied against them, but their CEO was sent to jail in Sweden (the Company's corporate headquarters.)

Actual family organizations, where the owners and a number of employees are related by blood or marriage are often shocked to find themselves facing a sexual harassment lawsuit. No one, least of all senior executives, could imagine any of the employees behaving toward one another in a way that could get the company into legal hot water. After all, they're a "family" and, according to them, families are functional . . . aren't they?

Organizations that have provided "training" for their employees which appears to satisfy the Supreme Court's dictum that organizations must demonstrate a "good faith effort," may find that they haven't done nearly enough. For example, online training with no follow-up and no classroom discussion are unlikely to satisfy the need for a good faith effort. Employees read sections of the online product during a few down-time moments but they never really understood the complexity of the sexual harassment issue and the company may be hard-pressed to prove this was a "good faith effort."