Understanding and Minimizing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………….… 1
DEFINING SEXUAL HARASSMENT ………………………………………………………… 1
QUID PRO QUO …………………………………………………………………………. 2
HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT ………………………...………………………….. 2
IMPLICATIONS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT …………………...………………………..... 4
EFFECTS ON EMPLOYEES ………………………………………………………..…... 5
EFFECTS ON EMPLOYERS ……………………………………………………...…….. 5
EMPLOYER LIABILITY ……………………………………………..…………………. 6
RESPONSIBILITY TO EMPLOYEES ……………………………….…………… 6
NON-EMPLOYEE SEXUAL HARASSMENT ……………………..…………….. 7
DEMOGRAPHIC INCIDENCE RATES OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT ……..……….. 8
MINIMIZING WORKPLACE SEXUAL HARASSMENT ……………………………….…… 9
SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICIES/TRAINING …………………………...………. 10
BANNING WORKPLACE RELATIONSHIPS ………………………………...……… 11
“LOVE CONTRACTS” ………………………………………………………...………. 12
CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………………...………. 13
Appendix I – Sexual Harassment Charges EEOC & FEPAs COMBINED: 1997 – 2009
Appendix II - Total Monetary Awards for Sexual Harassment *

* * Introduction
The year 1964 was a year of great legislative advancement when speaking of employment laws. This was the year the Civil Rights Act becomes law, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and sex. Although this act made a significant impact in providing for equality in the workplace, there still was no mention of sexual harassment within the boundaries of the law. In fact, it wasn’t until 1974 that the judicial system sees its first encounter with sexual harassment in the case of Barnes v. Train, where a female employee claims that she was unfairly retaliated against for rejecting her superior’s sexual advances. However, at that time, the court decides, “the male supervisor merely solicited his subordinate because he found her ‘attractive’ and then retaliated because he felt ‘rejected’” (Equal Rights Advocates). This case was later appealed in 1977 and Barnes v. Train was reversed,

References: Bennet-Alexander, D., & Hartmand, L. (2006). Employment Law for Business. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Boyd, C. (2010). The Debate Over the Prohibition of Romance in the Workplace. Journal of Business Ethics 97:325–338 _ Springer 2010. Browne, Kingsley R. (2006). Sex, Power, and Dominance: the Evolutionary Psychology of Sexual Harassment. Managerial and Decision Economics, Econ. 27: 145-158, 2006. Dansky, B.S. & Kilpatrick, D.G. (1997). Effects of sexual harassment. In W. O’Donahue (Ed.), Sexual harassment: Theory, research, & treatment (pp. 152-174). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Dessler, Gary, Human Resource Management, Eleventh Edition. Pearson / Prentice Hall, Inc., 2008. ISBN: 0-13-174617-0. Equal Rights Advocates (2010). Know Your Rights: Sexual Harassment at Work. Retrieved November 10, 2010 from http://www.equalrights.org/publications/kyr/shwork.asp EEOC (2010) Elissa L. Perry, Carol T. Kulik, Marina P. Field (2009). Sexual Harassment Training: Recommendations to Address gaps Between the Practitioner and Research Literatures, Human Resource Management, September–October 2009, Vol. 48, No. 5, Pp. 817– 837. Lee J. Tyner, M. Suzanne Clinton (2010). Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Are Human Resource Professionals Victims? Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, Volume 14, No. 1, 2010, Pp. 33-50. Martucci, W. C., & Lu, Z. (2005) Sexual-harassment training: The wave of the future in state legislative efforts. Employment Relations Today, 32(2), 87-95 Merkin, Rebecca (2007) Rospenda, K. & Richman, J & Ehmke, J & Zlatoper, K (2005). Is Workplace Harassment Hazardous to Your Health? Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol. 20., No.1, Fall 2005