How to Respond and Combat Sexual Harassment

Harassment of an employee impedes employment opportunities, morale, job and performance. Indeed, harassment, particularly sexual harassment, is a pervasive and expensive workplace problem. For instance, in 1995, a jury awarded a secretary $7.1 million after it found her boss had sexually harassed her and their employer did nothing to prevent or remedy it. The following is intended to help employees avoid the high costs of harassment and provide a proactive approach to eliminate harassment in your organization.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Attorney

1. Ensure that your employer organization has a harassment policy and procedure which prohibits harassment in the workplace. Companies can obtain sample policies from the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
2. Suggest that your employer conduct training workshops on preventing harassment in the workplace. A variety of law firms and human resource consultants offer such training.
3. Document each and every offensive remark, gesture and/or act in the event that you are experiencing harassment within your workplace.
4. Include the date, time, location and witnesses to any form of harassment.
5. Tell your harasser that his or her conduct is offensive to you and impairs your work environment. Ask your harasser to stop the offensive conduct. Otherwise, discuss the problem with the designated company official if you do not feel comfortable confronting the harasser.
6. Communicate your problem to the designated company offiicial, responsible for receiving complaints. This person should be identified in the company's harassment policy and complaint procedure. Or, communicate your problem to the human resource professional or the harasser's manager in the event that your company does not have a designated official.
7. Request that the company initiate an investigation regarding your complaint and inquire about the potential discipline in the event that the company's investigation substantiates your complaint.
8. Ask the company keep the investigation as confidential as possible. Note that the company cannot guarantee confidentiality but has a duty to keep an investigation as confidential as possible.
9. File a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission if the harassing conduct continues and/or the company fails to take any remedial action to prevent the offensive conduct.
10. Retain an attorney if all preventative steps have failed. The local bar association in your county will have a referral service that can direct you to specialized labor and employment attorneys that can help you.

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