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Whether a company has 2 employees or 200, sexual harassment is an issue every employer must face. Removing sexual harassment from the workplace is critically important. Learn how it is defined, how to prevent it and what to do if it occurs.

Harassment Defined
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature […] when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.”
According to the EEOC, the following also applies to sexual harassment:
(http://www.eeoc.gov/types/sexual_harassment.html)

• The victim or the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
• The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
• The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
• Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
• The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.

The Cost
Victims of sexual harassment can experience stress, humiliation, depression, loss of self- esteem, damage to reputation and career, declining work performance, increased absenteeism and other effects. Sexual harassment can also seriously damage a company with decreased morale, staff turnover, declining productivity, increased health care costs, damage to the company’s reputation and legal costs.

An Ounce of Prevention
The most effective way to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace is to prevent it from occurring. The EEOC advises employers to be proactive.
“Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They can do so by providing sexual harassment training to their employees and by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.” (http://www.eeoc.gov/types/sexual_harassment.html)

Have a Policy
All companies should have a clear and comprehensive sexual harassment policy in place and should distribute the policy to all employees. Individual state law may also require the company to post additional notices in the workplace.
Some integral elements of an effective policy:

• A definition of prohibited harassment.
• Procedures for employees to report improper behavior, also identifying the appropriate individuals to whom an employee is to direct a complaint.
• Language establishing sexual harassment as a disciplinary offense, reserving the right to terminate an employee who is found in violation of the policy.
• Non-retaliation language. Dismissing or demoting an employee who has registered a complaint is improper and illegal. If the employee can establish a connection between a complaint and retaliatory response, an employer can be found liable.

The Company Response
If a complaint of sexual harassment is reported in the office, the company must act. Both the complaining employee and the employee being accused of acting improperly must have the opportunity to tell their side of the story and no determination should be made until a full investigation is completed. False or inaccurate accusations can have extremely serious effects on innocent employees.

If it is determined that harassment took place, corrective action must be taken immediately. Depending on the circumstances and the company policy, such action might include a written reprimand, removal of authority, suspension, or even termination. All actions should be recorded in the employee’s file and an official record should be created detailing the investigation and the subsequent action taken.

What’s Next
The employer should then look to reaffirm the company’s policy and conduct additional training if necessary. If it is determined that sexual harassment did not occur, that determination should be properly recorded and communicated to all involved parties.

No matter how diligently a company tries to prevent sexual harassment, it can still occur. Companies should have the right policies and procedures in place in order to best prevent incidents and to deal with any that may arise. The liability is too great and the potential consequences are too significant to ignore.

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By: Jonathan Tenenbaum, Esq. jont@ebizinsider.com

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