Taking Action to Eliminate Sexual Behaviors at Work is Crucial for Avoiding Sexual Harassment Lawsuits

For those who have yet to grasp the significance of the #MeToo movement, which is encouraging women to complain about sexual mistreatment at work, here’s a bit more help. In late 2017, a poll by ABC News and the Washington Post found that 54% of women believe they received “unwanted and inappropriate” sexual advances at work, and 95% of them think such behavior normally is not punished by employers. About 80% of these women called the conduct sexual harassment. That means, according to the poll, about 33 million women think they were sexually harassed at work.

That, of course, is a lot of potential litigation, and there’s little doubt it’s being unleashed on employers who fail to take steps to address it. Fortunately, doing so effectively isn’t particularly complex, though it does require a firm commitment. Employers should begin by implementing or re-issuing, as the case may be, strong anti-sexual harassment policies, then follow them up with a concrete and sustained message that no sex talk or behavior will be tolerated at work or at work events. Here are a pointers for employers in this areas. Their goal should be to encourage employees to complain about perceived sexual issues so that employer’s action can follow and risks are thus minimized.

1. Decide that an anti-harassment program is worthwhile and commit to it at the highest managerial levels. If top leaders don’t buy in and mean it, what follows will likely be a waste of time.
2. Evaluate workplace interactions to see how employees talk with each other and behave on the job. A good baseline understanding here is important so that potential threats are exposed and employees can be asked to make specifically required changes.
3. Be sure appropriate anti-harassment postings exist. Update or re-post them as needed.
4. Train key personnel and consider training others. At the very least, be sure all employees get an in-person overview of the company’s anti-harassment policy and have the chance to ask questions. Key managers should be present when this is done to deliver the message that the company means what it says.
5. Designate and train a key human resources person to answer questions and address complaints. Strange though it may seem, complaints about sexual behaviors are an employer’s friend, not its enemy. When workers believe the company will take them seriously and act, sexual harassment is normally dealt with internally. When they don’t, victims tend to remain silent and consider filing suit at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.