Sexual harassment is not going away. It’s on the news daily. You hear it whispered about in the walls of many offices. At the one-year anniversary of the #MeToo movement 425 prominent people have been accused of sexual misconduct. Most recently, Google employees led  a workplace strike on November 1 to protest a multimillion-dollar settlement offer to a high ranking executive.

Sexual harassment seems so pervasive in society. Movies often portray “funny” or “romantic” scenes (like chasing after a love interest that wants nothing to do with the main character) that in real life would simply be creepy. Ever seen the movie 9 to 5 with Dolly Parton? Yeah… that’s what we are talking about- creepy bosses exploiting their employees. It is hard to turn on the news without hearing about another victim of sexual harassment or a discussion of the #MeToo movement. So, what are some steps that companies and employees can take to combat sexual harassment when it seems to be everywhere?

Have a Policy in Place to Address Appropriate Workplace Behavior.

All companies need workplace rules. When the employee handbook has clear rules for the employees, then they understand what they can and cannot do. You can take a look at Facebook’s policy as an example. The anti-harassment policy should explain that the company does not tolerate discrimination based on any protected characteristic, list the characteristics (sex, race, etc.), and give examples of what would be a violation of the policy (slurs, sexual innuendos, etc.). When the rules are public and well drafted, employees have no excuse for not following them.

Have a Procedure to Report Sexual Harassment and Ensure that there is More than One Person that People can Report to

The policy should have a procedure that people can follow to report incidents of sexual harassment. It should give multiple people that the person can report to (human resources, manger, etc.) and how they can make their reports (in person, email, etc.). People should be made to feel as comfortable as possible when they are making these reports. These are tough subjects to discuss much less bring up when sometimes the person who harassed you is in a position of power.

Train your Staff about Sexual Harassment

Some states require employers to train their staff regarding sexual harassment. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, and New York require some form of sexual harassment training to either all employees and/or supervisors. There are important reasons to train your staff on this issue even if you are not required to do so. It can help reduce your liability by decreasing the likelihood that an incident will occur, which is especially important if you work in an industry where sexual banter or other misbehavior is more likely to occur (like restaurants). When you talk about sexual harassment at work you are making it known that the company will not tolerate this kind of behavior. People will be more likely to speak up.

Train your Managers

Companies need to train managers separate from their staff. The training is not the same for managers as it is for staff. Not everyone that is subject to inappropriate workplace behavior will speak up. Managers must be appropriately trained to recognize harassment, how to respond to it, and the procedures that must be followed. They are a company’s frontline of defense against sexual harassment claims.

Ensure that Upper Management Does Not Tolerate Sexual Harassment

Upper management sets the tone for the rest of the company. For example, Under Armour’s practice of allowing employees to charge strip club visits and other adult entertainment to the company was a bad policy. It is incredible that this ended just this year. If employees are allowed to do this, and if the CEO’s and other C-suite officers are allowed to expense this sort of “entertainment”, then the company’s management is not leading by example (and is likely exposing itself to sexual harassment lawsuits).

Upper management should care about sexual harassment because the average cost of a sexual harassment lawsuit runs from $75,000-$125,000, but can often result in multimillion dollar losses for a company.

Beware of Instances Where Sexual Harassment is More Likely to Occur

If the company has a party where alcohol is present, then a problem is more likely to arise. Some workplace studies have shown a link between drinking and harassment. If you are going to have an office party, then you need to ensure that you provide drink limits to the people that will be there (2 drinks per person is a good limit).

Speak Up

I’m not addressing this to the victims of sexual harassment. There are a number of reasons why they do not always report an incident. Those that do report sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior deserve to be applauded.

I’m talking about the other people. The people that witness something, but do not say anything. The people that hear about an incident, but don’t do anything about it.  Everyone is responsible for creating a positive and safe workplace where people want to work. It is people (like this) that do the right thing by taking action to make their workplace a better place that deserve to be held up as an example. Bystanders can help stop sexual harassment. They can run interference, get a manager, intervene and do a number of different things to prevent sexual harassment. We all need to do our part.

Conclusion

Sexual harassment can be severely reduced, but it will take everyone working together. If there is one thing that is evident from the past year and the #MeToo movement, it is that a lot of people have been hurt by people that they worked with.  Hopefully, we can work together to end sexual harassment.

The information provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. If you need legal advice, then you should speak with a lawyer about your specific issues. Every legal issue is unique. A lawyer can help you with your situation. Reading the blog, contacting me through the site, emailing me or commenting on a post does not create an attorney-client relationship between any reader and me.

The information provided is my own and does not reflect the opinion of my firm or anyone else.