Cream of the Crop 1/Cream of the Crop 1.iso/BUSINESS/SBA62.ARJ/FSBA.EXE/F404.SBE

Text File | 1992-04-30 | 6KB | 124 lines

@124 CHAP 5

          ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
          │       SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE      │
          └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill drama. which replaced afternoon soap
operas and kept millions of glassy-eyed Americans glued to the small,
glowing boxes in their living rooms for several days in the fall of
1991, has brought the issue of sexual harassment to a new and height-
ened level of awareness among the public.  While sexual harassment as
such is not mentioned anywhere in Title VII of the federal Civil
Rights Act, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and
the courts have long accepted such harassment as being illegal and
discriminatory.  In addition, many states have adopted specific laws
banning sexual harassment.

Because this is now such a highly topical issue, many employment law
experts expect an upsurge in litigation involving sexual harassment
claims, so it behooves you to take a fresh look at your firm's
policies regarding this subject.

For a deeper discussion of the federal sexual harassment law and
steps you can take to protect your firm from being sued for failing
to take proper steps to prevent such acts from occurring, see
Chapter 5.8 of our companion book, STARTING AND OPERATING A
BUSINESS IN @STATE.

Employers need to be keenly aware their potential liability for
sexual harassment in the workplace, another increasingly signif-
icant area of the anti-discrimination laws, under Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act.  While, as noted, the federal Civil Rights
Act does not specifically refer to sexual harassment as a form of
discrimination, the courts and the EEOC have long defined it as
such.  Under the body of law that has been built up, there are
two types of sexual harassment under Title VII, as it has been
interpreted over the years:

      . One is sexual harassment of the type where "tangible
        job benefits" are granted or withheld based on an
        employee's receptiveness to unwelcome requests or
        conduct:

          ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
          │ EXAMPLE:  A male supervisor tells a female    │
          │ employee to meet him at the swimming pool on  │
          │ his sumptuous estate on a Saturday afternoon  │
          │ to discuss a business contract.  She refuses  │
          │ to meet him at his place, and later receives  │
          │ a bad rating from him for "bad attitude and   │
          │ unwillingness to work weekends," which costs  │
          │ her a raise or promotion.  The female employee│
          │ in such a case has been denied a "tangible job│
          │ benefit" due to sexual harassment most likely.│
          └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘

      . The other type is sexual harassment involving a hos-
        tile work environment; that is, a situation in which
        the work environment is oppressive and is hostile to
        members of one sex, where such conditions either
        unreasonably interfere with the individual's work
        performance or create an intimidating, hostile, or
        offensive environment.  This type of harassment may
        not have any economic effects on the complainant, and
        management or supervisory personnel may not be
        involved.  Even so, the employer who allows such a
        condition to persist may still be liable if management
        was aware of the harassment by co-workers (or even by
        customers) and fails to take appropriate actions to
        remedy the situation.


          ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
          │ WHAT TO DO?  Merely having a firm policy that │
          │ prohibits sexual harassment at your company   │
          │ won't automatically stop such activity or pro-│
          │ tect the firm from liability if harassment oc-│
          │ curs, but the absence of such a policy makes  │
          │ such conduct somewhat more likely to occur and│
          │ will also tend to strengthen an employee's    │
          │ claim against you if your firm is sued for    │
          │ allowing such acts to occur.                  │
          │                                               │
          │ SUGGESTED APPROACH:  Adopt a sexual harassment│
          │ policy that not only prohibits such conduct,  │
          │ but which also sets up a grievance mechanism  │
          │ for employees who are victims of any such     │
          │ harassment and communicate this company policy│
          │ strongly and clearly to your employees.       │
          └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Note that, in addition to federal civil rights case law, the
statutes of many states, or the regulations of many state civil
rights commissions, now specifically prohibit sexual harassment
in the workplace, and some of these laws go well beyond the
protections afforded under federal law.

@CODE: CA
Also, the California Government Code (Section 12940(h)) expressly
prohibits sexual harassment by employers and by others where the
employer knows of the situation and fails to take immediate and
appropriate action to correct it.  Employers must take all
reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment from incurring,
including verbal, visual and physical harassment, and unwanted
sexual advances.

@CODE:OF
@CODE: HI
Also, the Hawaii State Civil Rights Commission interprets Hawaii's
fair employment law to prohibit sexual harassment on the the same
basis as the EEOC rules.  (Hawaii AR Sec. 12-23-59(a)-(f).)

@CODE:OF
@CODE: NM
Also, the New Mexico Human Rights Commission considers sexual
harassment to constitute sexual discrimination under the New
Mexico Human Rights Act.  Harassment includes unwanted or repeated
physical or verbal action to pressure an individual for sexual
activity, including sexual advances, contact, verbal or nonverbal
suggestions, innuendos or ridicule.  (NM RR Sec. I.A.27 a.1.)

@CODE:OF