Employers have a legal duty to prevent and remedy all forms of unlawful discrimination, including sexual harassment. Two Supreme Court opinions clearly state that an employer must take reasonable steps to prevent and remedy sexual harassment or be left with little or no defense for a claim of sexually harassing behavior by a supervisor. The foundation of a prevention program is an effective anti-harassment policy that clearly prohibits harassment, including sexual harassment, and provides procedures for reporting and correcting harassment. Because employers will bear the burden of proving that reasonable steps were taken to prevent harassment, an effective, written policy is a must.
Elements of a Harassment Prevention Program include:
- A written policy
- Hiring safeguards
- Training
- Reporting mechanisms
- Audit of employment decisions
Employees should be encouraged to report inappropriate conduct faced in the work environment and by those who work with them. The reporting could be done in person or through a confidential mechanism (such as a hotline) and all employees should have several avenues for reporting in case their direct chain of command is the person they are uncomfortable with. Once reported, all complaints should be given utmost sensitivity and concern and a determination made as to who is the most appropriate party to investigate the complaint. The employee should cooperate with the investigation and provide all factual detail as to why they feel that they have been treated inappropriately. If the employee has reported the behavior and does not see any action taken to investigate or does not notice a behavioral change by the alleged harasser, the employee is encouraged to report to a higher person in charge, including Human Resources, In-house counsel, or an officer of the organization.
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