Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination recognized under the federal civil rights law Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is applicable to all public businesses.<\/p>\n
Since 1991, when the Congress broadened the 1964 law, demonstrable acts of sexual harassment are punished\u00a0via the civil courts through civil suits where the victim sues the harasser.<\/p>\n
This may be an uncomfortable subject for many. As a small business owner, however, you need to be informed about not only the legal side of things, but how sexual harassment and allegations thereof can affect your employees and your overall business.<\/p>\n
The range of sexual harassment behavior is broad. A 2014\u00a0International Women’s Media Foundations survey\u00a0<\/a>of 683 employees found that nearly half answered “yes” to the question “Have you experienced sexual harassment in relation to your work?”<\/p>\n Although many of the sexual harassment complaints were probably not actionable, 45 percent of the harassment was physical groping or touching “sensitive” areas and 15 percent involved verbal threats of a sexual nature.<\/p>\n Some\u00a0sexually harassing conduct does violate criminal law\u00a0<\/a>as well. For instance, it is a criminal offense to physically assault a co-worker. Sexual harassment can often lead to physical sexual assault, which may result in a criminal charge against the assailant and a civil sexual harassment lawsuit against the assailant’s employer for not preventing the civil rights violation in the workplace.<\/p>\n Criminal assault and battery charges may result from “offensive physical contact or threat of such physical contact.” This may be punished under state assault and battery laws and result in a lawsuit as well.<\/p>\n Sexual harassment may also result\u00a0in the harasser’s efforts to restrain the victim. This restraint of action may result in criminal false imprisonment or unlawful restraint law. Bullying, stalking, or imposition of offensive pornographic images (including child pornography) may be punished under criminal law. Both the assailant and the employer may be charged.<\/p>\n On-the-job sexual harassment is not a recent problem, although the right of victims to legal compensation is. The first Title VII sexual harassment suit was\u00a0decided in the District of Columbia in 1976. Current civil actions include pain and suffering allowances as well as back pay, lost wages, and job reinstatement to victims. Now sexual harassment suits are heard in jury trials where chances of findings for the plaintiff are higher.<\/p>\n The number of sexual harassment claims\u00a0rose quickly. In 1991, there were 6,883 claims in the US. In 1997, there were 15,889 claims. In 2014, the number of claims levelled off to 10,364. According to the Equal Opportunity Commission, about 20 percent of those claims were judged in favor of the plaintiff and paid out almost $50 million.<\/p>\n In many cases, the employer is at least partially responsible for sexual harassment, especially if the harasser is working in accordance with the authority he or she is granted by the company, and if the company has made no attempt to correct conditions leading to the harassment.<\/p>\n The cost of sexual harassment to American business is high. In 1988,\u00a0Working Woman Magazine <\/em>compiled statistics indicating that a typical Fortune 500 company can expect to lose $6.7 million annually in sexual harassment civil suits. Losses can result from absenteeism associated with the harassment, loss of reputation, lower productivity and staff morale,\u00a0a jump in health care costs, and employee turnover.<\/p>\n Prevention is the best defense against sexual harassment litigation. The most obvious protection for a company is to put a\u00a0sexual harassment policy in place. In order to do so and have it be effective, here are a few important things to keep in mind:<\/p>\n Almost any company can and should create a sexual harassment policy to protect their employees. Most insurers require inquiries about past sexual harassment cases and the nature of the human resources department in the company. The sexual harassment coverage may be part of an employment practices liability insurance policy<\/a> that also covers invasion of privacy, libel, slander, wrongful dismissal, and other forms of discrimination suits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination recognized under the federal civil rights law Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is applicable to all public businesses. Since 1991, when the Congress broadened the 1964 law, demonstrable acts of sexual harassment are punished\u00a0via the civil courts through civil suits where the victim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117,207,235],"tags":[232,439,233,440,441,399],"class_list":["post-3736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-owner-responsibilities","category-employee-relations","category-office-management","tag-employee-management","tag-employee-management-tips","tag-employee-relations","tag-office-management-tips","tag-sexual-harassment-policy","tag-tips-for-employers"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tThe History of Sexual Assault Cases in the Workplace<\/h2>\n
Is an Employer Responsible in a Sexual Harassment Case?<\/h2>\n
How Can Companies Protect Themselves Against Sexual Harassment Actions?<\/h2>\n
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