Sexual Harassment–A Personal Story
Toward the end of last year, I did a post on sexual harassment training in Q&A format. One of the questions was whether this kind of training should be provided to all employees. Although I answered “probably” so, a couple of people who left comments took issue with me. As I said in response to the comments, I should have omitted “probably.”
One of the comments was somewhat personal and deserves to be set forth in its entirety:
“Okay, from a different perspective, let me tell you what it’s like to be sexually harassed. You feel degraded, ashamed, your work and family life suffer, you try to stand up for yourself, only to have your supervisor ignore your complaints. When you finally have had enough of trying to work it out yourself & file SH, you find out that the company is only interested in protecting itself from a lawsuit. Even though you have documented numerous accounts of harassment, HR doesn’t care.
“Now that you filed, the retaliation starts. You can’t get it to stop. You go on anti-depressants just to be able to walk into work each morning. You’re exhausted from all the stress when you get home. You take sleeping pills at night.
“Instead of worrying about lost productivity, etc. from holding SH training, research how the victim is affected by it. How would you feel if it were your daughter or wife? A lot of SH victims have symptoms similar to women who have been raped. Think about that.
“Do you still feel this training may be too expensive to give to all employees?”
This commenter also sent me a chapter called “Sexual Harassment in Organizations” from a book titled Handbook of Organizational Behavior. This chapter covers a decade of research on sexual harassment in the workplace and should be read by any HR professional or employment lawyer.
Making a claim of sexual harassment is quite difficult for the victim to do. As the above research indicates, fewer than one-third of victims discuss sexual harassment with supervisors, less than 25% file formal sexual harassment complaints with their employers, and only a negligible percentage take their complaints to court. Why are the percentages low? Fear of blame, disbelief, inaction, retaliation, humiliation, ostracism, and damage to one’s career and reputation. This research also shows that these fears are justified, as two-thirds of employees who spoke out against harassment faced retaliation or organizational indifference.
This research goes further in trying to determine how sexual harassment can be eliminated from the workplace. Employees reported the lowest rates of sexual harassment when they worked for organizations that proactively developed, disseminated, and enforced sexual harassment policies (e.g., by training all employees, crafting official complaint procedures, designating a specialist to receive complaints). More harassment was reported by employees whose employers only used informational approaches to policy dissemination (e.g., posting it in the workplace or an employee handbook).
Another interesting aspect of the research deals with the effectiveness of training. While the results of this part of the research are mixed, it seems accurate to say that training does some good in terms of making employees feel positive about their employers’ attention to this subject and, to a lesser extent, causing employees to behave properly.
While some might quarrel with the efficacy of research on a subject no one seems to want to talk about, there could be no serious quarrel with the proposition that sexual harassment is still a significant problem in our workplaces. Some charges of sexual harassment are unfounded. Some can’t be proved. What is most troubling, however, is a story like the one that started this post, which says that a report of sexual harassment resulted in retaliation and a lack of concern from HR. The former is unlawful. The latter is unacceptable.
One reason that sexual harassment continues to be problematic is The Man Gene, but that’s no defense. Moreover, organizational genetics should be able to overcome The Man Gene and put it in its place, which just may be outside the organization. If we fail to take this subject seriously, which the previously noted research indicates happens at times, then we fail the law’s intent and we fail our employees’ right to work in a safe place. If one of our employees feels the way the person who told this post’s opening story felt, then all of the policies, procedures and training are meaningless.
Leave a Reply
About Chris Parker
Chris Parker's practice focuses on the representation and counseling of companies in matters pertaining to the workplace and the protection of their intellectual property and trade secrets. In addition to serving as an advocate for clients, Mr. Parker is also trained as a mediator and frequently serves as a third-party neutral.
Read more about Chris Parker
About Jimmy Daniel
Jimmy Daniel provides counseling to businesses of all sizes related to the employment relationship. He assists in the drafting of employment agreements, policies, and handbooks, as well as provides guidance related to compliance with federal, state, and local legislation such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Read more about Jimmy Daniel
About Larry Bridgesmith
While serving in an Of Counsel relationship with the firm, Mr. Bridgesmith also serves as the Executive Director at the Institute for Conflict Resolution at Lipscomb University and as an officer and principal in Strategic Resolutions Group, LLC. In these roles, Mr. Bridgesmith brings over 30 years of legal experience in dispute resolution and innovative workplace strategies to clients, students and business entities alike.
Read more about Larry Bridgesmith
I was the victim of advances made by a newly appointed principal to my school, work place for last 20 years. These advances happened without notice or witnesses. I am a male and my principal is a “gay” male. He came with high recomendations and is well connected. I chose not to file claims or suites for fear that they would not beleive me (no witnesses) yet I have been haunted by this for over a year since it happened. Iat the time of the advances threatend bodily harm if he ever came close to me again and for a while he stayed away from me. I no longer attended school functions or any social activities to avoid this man. This year I was entitled by law to be compensated for meetings I was compelled to attend which were deemed later by an arbitrator as meetings I or any other Paraprofessional would not have to attend. My claims were ignored for months and then I had to file a greivance. The very next day the torment started. I have been written up several times and dragged into humiliating conferences with threats of diciplinary action for fraudulant allegations. I have been very tolerant and kept a cool head. I was just diagnosed with high blood pressure and yesterday when draged once again for more
tongue lashings I divulged the doctors prognosis at which time this principal jumped all over me threatening to send me home and to arrange me getting a medical examination by the NY Dept. of Ed. to determine that I am unfit to work at the school any longer. I don’t know what to do…I do need advice and help…In the mean time my collegues keep telling me to take it easy and try to relax…
I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. I would imagine it’s difficult to relax given your current situation. It’s not clear whether you’ve sought legal advice. If you haven’t, you should. Take to the lawyer everything you have–all documents, notes, etc. It sounds like it’s time for you to have a legal strategy for dealing with this situation. I’m not in a position to recommend anyone to you, but there should be some resources you can get recommendations from: friends, union reps (I’m assumning there’s at least one union involved in the school), bar association lawyer referral services.
John – Thank you for this article. I really didn’t think you’d do it.
Gil – I’m am so sorry for what you are going through. Please visit this website:
http://shsf.invisionzone.com/
HR personnel everywhere – Unfortunately, the mindset of your profession has shifted. It has become less about the employees and more about protecting the company from lawsuits.
Your prompt to do the article was much appreciated. It’s an important point of view that does sometimes get lost on those of us who represent employers day in and day out.
Also, your point about the shift in the HR mindset is interesting. I’m not sure I agree with it, but I’ll think about it, and maybe do a post raising the question. As you know I’m sure, HR is often caught in the middle. I know a lot of HR professionals who are concerned about the welfare of their employees and serve as advocates for them. However, there is enormous pressure on them to operate with fewer people (which makes dealing personnaly with employees more difficult). Also, there’s no question about it being considered as part of their job to protect the company from lawsuits. I don’t find that to be in conflict with caring for employees and helping employees as long as the proper balance is struck, which is easier said than done.
Thanks for the link you provided to Gil. Also, thanks for continuing to weigh in.