* Meet with all managers to remind them of their special responsibility to guard against sexual harassment.
Make sure your managers understand the different kinds of behavior that can support a sexual-harassment claim. A single mention of their responsibilities probably won't do. Just as with other legal responsibilities, such as complying with labor laws and race- and age-discrimination laws, management must be aware of the need for constant vigilance against sexual harassment. Provide for periodic review of management obligations, such as the need to be reasonably well informed about what goes on among nonmanagerial employees -- your potential liability isn't limited to actions by a management employee. You also can be hit with claims if one worker sexually harasses another.
Whatever steps your managers take can't be halfhearted if they're to be effective or to stand up in court. The West Bend Co., for example, lost a sexual-harassment suit even though its supervisors had held a few general meetings to explain the company's policy against abusive language and offensive posters targeted at one employee. What they didn't do was address her specific complaints directly.
* Promptly investigate any claims of sexual harassment or situations that indicate an employee may be subject to sexual harassment.
Your managers may feel squeamish about talking with a concerned employee -- the easiest reaction for them may be to joke about the problem and hope it will go away. Or they may tell the employee to handle it one way or another, or to tough it out. Managers may even make their own assumptions about what's going on and decide that the employee "deserves" whatever sexually provocative behavior he or she is concerned about. This kind of reaction on their part could lead to a law-suit against you.
Approach a complaint about sexual harassment systemically, as you would less emotional problems. Arrange for private conferences and learn the facts. Ask the harassed employee to be as specific as possible about what happened, when, and where. Determine whether other employees may have witnessed the incidents described. Conduct confidential discussions with accused employees.
When there are no witnesses to help resolve conflicting stories, the best step may be to separate involved employees by giving them different assignments. But be careful: if you move an employee to a less desirable position after a complaint about sexual harassment, you may be charged with unlawfully retaliating against the employee for exercising his or her rights.
* Provide for a quick remedy if sexual harassment is confirmed.
The severity of a remedy will depend on circumstances. Merely reprimanding an employee may be enough. Separating employees may resolve a situation. Firing the offender may be the only choice, but again, be careful. You may be subject to legal action by the fired employee. One manager who had been demoted because of a sexual-harassment claim was reinstated when a court decided his comments to another employee were trivial incidents in an otherwise completely professional relationship that had to be judged in context -- the complaining employee often called him at home late at night to discuss her personal problems.
An adequate remedy must also consider the harassed employees who may need extra help. Their performance may have suffered, or they may have lost time from work, and you may have to compensate for this by providing back pay or extra training.
It's possible, of course, they you'll do all that is in your power to provide a good working environment and still be sued for sexual harassment. If that's the case, you have a handful of defenses.
It didn't happen. Seldom do employees venture a complete fabrication, but I've seen cases in which an emotionally disturbed employee has just imagined things. Whenever you are alerted to the possibility that an employee is being sexually harassed, however, your first step is to investigate. Dismissing an employee's concerns as trivial before you get the facts is sure to count against you.
It happened, but it was part of a consensual relationship. Courts may be wary of this defense. Because an employee submits to a supervisor's or co-worker's aggression doesn't make the relationship consensual.
It happened, but it was trivial. Even a single incident may be enough to give an employee reason to complain about sexual harassment, but courts have found that a comment on someone's physique, an off-color joke, or even a little touching doesn't add up to sexual harassment when a long relationship between the employees involved had otherwise been entirely professional, and when the affected employee had admittedly been rewarded for professional performance.
It happened, but I didn't condone it, and there was no way I could have known about it. This will be especially tough to prove if the offending employee is a supervisor or manager. Generally, since you've given these people substantial authority over other employees, you'll be held responsible for how they use their power. Courts will consider such points as how prominent the behavior was, how long it had been going on, whether other employees were aware of it, whether the victimized employee tried to talk to management about the problem, and whether you make it reasonably easy for employees to talk about such problems.
It happened, but I made a real effort to correct the problem as soon as I learned of it. Courts will ask if you learned about the problem as soon as you should have, and whether your efforts were effective. They're likely to consider whether you disciplined the offender, how you responded to the victim, and whether you've made reasonable efforts to prevent similar problems in the future.
