In our Sexual Harassment Awareness training workshops your employees will learn and apply the important skills of handling sexual harassment issues and complaints. This hands on workshop thoroughly addresses the elements of how to prevent unacceptable behavior. The workshop includes a detailed overview of what sexual harassment is, explains legal definitions, discusses sexual harassment prevention, and shows how to handle sexual harassment complaints and maintain a positive work environment.
For more information about individual sexual harassment training workshops please complete this form. Once the form is received one of our consultants will provide you with a confidential proposal that will include a detailed description of the training workshop and the costs for conducting it.
Sexual Harassment Training:
The Need for a Company Sexual Harassment Workshop
In the 1990s, sexual harassment became a highly visibile part of American pop culture. In 1991, Anita Hill testified in a televised United States Senate hearing that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her when she worked for him in the early 1980s at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Thomas was confirmed, but by a very close vote of 52-48. Some of the Senators who voted for confirmation were defeated for re-election in 1992. In 1994, Paul Corbin Jones accused President William Jefferson Clinton of sexually harassing her when he was Governor of Arkansas and she was an Arkansas state employee. In 1998, Jones' lawsuit was dismissed, but a deposition President Clinton gave about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern, triggered an investigation by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr that resulted in Starr recommending to the United States Congress that President Clinton be impeached.
Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances and requests for sexual favors. Other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. The two types of harassment are quid pro quo and hostile environment. Quid pro quo, or "this for that," exists when an employee's supervisor or a person of higher employment rank demands sexual favors from a subordinate in exchange for tangible job benefits. Hostile environment, or environmental harassment, is a pattern of intimidating, hostile, or offensive behaviors which affect the person being harassed.
Federal laws on sexual harassment have existed since Congress passed Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments. Title VII prohibits sex discrimination in employment; sexual harassment is considered a form of sex discrimination. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in education. The laws began to have effect when in 1980, and again in 1988, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidelines to define sexual harassment.
The courts have defined sexual harassment more precisely, and have been involved in resolving key issues. In 1986, in the Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson case, the Supreme Court ruled that quid pro quo sexual harassment was a form of sex discrimination under Title VII. In the Meritor case, the Supreme Court made a very important distinction. It affirmed that a victim may comply voluntarily with sexually harassing behavior, but may not welcome it. If it is unwelcome, it is sexual harassment. The Meritor case also set a precedent because it established employer liability for acts of sexual harassment committed by its employees. The Court ruled that quid pro quo and environmental harassment are two distinct claims, but that they can and often do occur at the same time. It is necessary, however, to distinguish between them when employer liability is being determined; the employer is always liable in quid pro quo harassment, but may not always be liable in hostile environment cases.
In education, the United States Supreme Court significantly expanded protection for student victims in Christine Franklin, Petitioner v. Gwinnett County Public Schools and William Prescott, on February 26, 1992. For the first time, students had the right to win monetary damages from schools that receive federal funds. This decision provided strong motivation for schools to engage in a proactive strategy to prevent sexual harassment.
On November 9, 1993, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Harris v. Forklift Systems, that harassing conduct need not seriously affect an employee's psychological well-being or cause the plaintiff to suffer injury. On March 4, 1998, the court again ruled, in Oncale v. Sundancer Offshore Services, that same-sex harassment in the workplace violates federal law.
The Hill-Thomas hearings led to more legislation. On October 11, 1991, Titles I, II, and III of the 1991 Civil Rights Act were passed. Title I expands the rights of sexual harassment victims to enable them to collect monetary damages. Title II, commonly referred to as the "Glass Ceiling Act of 1991," encourages corporate practices and policies that promote opportunities for, and eliminate artificial barriers to, the advancement of women and minorities into higher level positions. Title III focuses on fair employment practices and covers employees of the House of Representatives, Senate, and Executive Office of the President.
The military faced the issue of sexual harassment in September 1991, when the "Tailhook" scandal became public. A female Navy helicopter pilot, Lt. Paula Coughlin, complained to Rear Admiral John Snyder, Commander, Naval Air Test Center, that she had been physically and indecently assaulted on September 7, 1991, by a group of naval officers at the 1991 Tailhook Symposium at the Las Vegas Hilton. Commander of the Naval Investigative Service, Rear Admiral Duvall M. "Mac" Williams, was requested to open an investigation. A mammoth investigation was initiated on October 11, 1991. Snyder was relieved of his command for dealing inappropriately with Coughlin's complaint. On February 7, 1994, Coughlin resigned from the Navy and gave as her reason the retaliation she had experienced as a result of her complaint.
Coughlin filed civil law suits against the Tailhook Association and the Las Vegas Hilton. She settled with the Tailhook Association for $400,000 before the trial began. On October 28, 1994, the jury in Las Vegas decided that the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel was negligent because it failed to provide adequate security during the 1991 Tailhook Convention. The jury awarded Coughlin $1.7 million in damages. On October 31, 1994, the jury ordered the Las Vegas Hilton and its parent company to pay Coughlin $5 million in punitive damages for a total award of $6.7 million, an amount later reduced to $5.3 million.
In November 1996, the United States Army brought charges of rape and sexual harassment against military trainers at the Army Ordnance Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. According to the Pentagon, there were more than a dozen victims; all of the victims were female soldiers in their second eight weeks of training. The Army charged 12 staff members of Aberdeen with sex crimes, ranging from inappropriate sexual comments to rape. In September 1997, the Army issued a "scathing report" acknowledging that sexual harassment and discrimination were prevalent.
The Paula Jones case broke legal ground when the Supreme Court ruled that a sitting President can be sued for actions that occurred before he took office and that the case can proceed while the President is still in office. The case went forward and depositions were taken, including a deposition from President Clinton in January 1998 that questioned whether the President had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. In March 1998, Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled that Monica Lewinsky "is not essential to the core issues" of Jones' case, and ordered all evidence related to Lewinsky be excluded from the proceedings. Judge Wright dismissed the Jones lawsuit on April 1, 1998.
President Clinton's legal troubles, however, did not end with the dismissal of the Jones' lawsuit. While under oath during his deposition in the Jones case, he denied having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr requested and received permission to investigate whether the President had lied under oath. After a seven month investigation, Starr reported to Congress that there were possible grounds for impeachment and the President was impeached by the full House, though the Senate chose not to remove the President from office.
Illustrating the pervasiveness of sexual harassment issues in America, the problem itself has evolved from a behavior without a name, to a social behavior, to a defined legal behavior, and by 1998, to a highly visible social problem for the President of the United States and the nation.
Source: Rosemarie Skaine link
