Racial harassment: Case characteristics and employer responsibilities

This article examines the socio-business issue of racial harassment in the workplace. For two decades, the federal judiciary has been defining and refining the elements of the offense within the parameters of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments for the first and only time on one of the important aspects of the developing doctrine focused considerable attention on this workplace problem in 1989. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 provides limited money damages to victims of discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, whereas Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 provides unlimited damages to the victims of discrimination and race harassment. The authors discuss the legislative and judicial foundations of race harassment with respect toPatterson v. McLean, provide a profile and analysis of racial harassment cases (1971–1987), and conclude with a discussion of employer liability and recommendations for management.     

Sexual Harassments: Criteria for difining hostile enviorment

Sexual harassment in the workplace continues to be one of the most controversial and complex legal and ethical issues facing empolyers. The U.S. Supreme Court's June 1986 decisiion inMeitor Savings Bank v. Vinson, which applied Title VII of the Civil Reights Act to situations involving sexual harassment, is discussed. The Court's definition of hostile environment is reviwed, and federal court cases interpreting the Supreme Court's pronousncements are examined. The cases provide guidance on the kinds of situations that result in employer liability for sexual harassment. A primanry conclusion is that employers may easily avoid liability by exercising learned judgment and sound management practices.     

Victims' and observers' perceptions of sexual harassment: implications for employers' legal risk in North America

The way in which victims and observers perceive potentially harassing behaviours and employers' responses to sexual harassment complaints significantly affect organizations' liability risk under sexual harassment law in North America. This article examines studies in the sexual harassment literature that focus on the perceptions of sexual harassment victims and observers, and identifies legal and extra-legal factors that influence their harassment judgments. The implications of research findings for employer liability and future research are discussed.     

Protecting the Rights of Alleged Sexual Harassment Perpetrators: Guidance from the Decisions of Labor Arbitrators

Recent evidence indicates that sexual harassment in the workplace continues to pose a problem for organizations. Using published arbitration awards, the current study examines the critical issues involved in discipline decisions of alleged sexual harassment perpetrators. Content analysis of 92 cases enabled the examination of critical judgment factors considered by arbitrators examining the disciplinary penalties imposed by management. Elements of the arbitrator's judgment including the just cause standards, mitigating circumstances, severity of harassment, and length of harassment were examined. The results of the analyses are discussed with an emphasis on the lessons provided for effective management practices.     

Sexual harassment training: Recommendations to address gaps between the practitioner and research literatures

Sexual harassment training is a common human resource activity, and the practitioner literature is replete with advice about how to implement it. Little research, however, has specifically explored what makes sexual harassment training effective. This paper uses what we know from general training research and theory and sexual harassment research to assess the extent to which the practitioner literature is making relevant and reasonable recommendations for sexual harassment training. We identify practitioner‐research gaps in the literature, including areas that academic research and theory suggest are important for training effectiveness but where the practitioner literature falls short. The practitioner literature may be silent, offer incomplete advice, make recommendations that do not directly link to research findings, or present recommendations that are inconsistent with research findings. We recommend that these gaps be bridged and we provide specific suggestions for how human resource managers can improve the quality of the sexual harassment training they provide. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Sexual harassment in organizations

Sexual harassment is now recognized as a potential problem for most organizations. The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the various aspects of sexual harassment as a problem: its definition (including both the economic injury and hostile environment types of harassment), its characteristics, and a discussion of how to deal with such problems in the workplace. Organizations are encouraged to act affirmatively by (1) establishing a policy prohibiting sexual harassment in the organization; (2) establishing and making employees aware of a grievance procedure for sexual harassment complaints; and (3) educating employees about the problem of sexual harassment through a combination of awareness and experiential training techniques.     

A descriptive study of behavioral responses of sexual harassment targets: Implications for control theory

The problem of sexual harassment in the workplace can be viewed within the framework of personal control. In particular, sexual harassment can be viewed as an infringement upon employees' rights to control the conditions under which they work. Targets of harassment must tolerate sexual harassment to avoid negative consequences such as termination, demotion, distasteful remarks or jokes, and so forth. Previous research (Wortman & Brehm, 1975; Greenberger & Strasser, 1986) into personal control has drawn upon two theories—reactance theory and learned helplessness theory—to explain behavioral responses to infringement upon personal control. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of personal control theories in explaining responses of targets who file discrimination suits.     

The family and medical leave act of 1993: Employee rights and responsibilities,employer rights and responsibilities

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law on February 5, 1993 after approximately eight years of controversial discussion in Congress. The FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for eligible employees for the birth or placement for adoption or foster care of a child, to care for a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition, or for the employee’s own serious health condition. The Act is intended to help individuals balance their home obligations with their work obligations. This article highlights both employee rights and responsibilities afforded by the FMLA and employer rights and responsibilities under the Act.     

Same-Sex Sexual Harassment: A Legal Assessment with Implications for Organizational Policy

The legal debate over sexual harassment (SH) has taken an interesting turn concerning the controversial issue of same-sex sexual harassment (SSSH). Disagreement among circuit courts' decisions propelled the U.S. Supreme Court to grant full review to the SSSH case of Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc., et al. (1996) [83 F.3d 118 (5th Cir. 1996) [online]. Available: http://laws.findlaw.com/5th/9530510cvl.html]. In a unanimous decision, the Justices indicated that (a) SSSH not only violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and (b) that the law does not exclude the idea that one heterosexual male can sexually harass another heterosexual male [Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc., et al., S. Ct. 96-568, Lexis 1599 (1998)]. This paper reviews the history of SSSH law and discusses the implications of the Oncale decision for SH policies and procedures.     

Breaking the Silence: Creating User-Friendly Sexual Harassment Policies

Numerous surveys suggest that while the number of women in the work force who have experienced sexual harassment is high, the number of those who are willing to actually report incidents of harassment is far lower. To better understand the consequences of sexual harassment to women and the legal implications to the corporation, we discuss briefly the psychophysiological consequences experienced by victims, followed by a review of sexual harassment law. Next we discuss the results of our survey based on a national sample of 1500 working women. Our study examines the reasons underlying women's reluctance to report sexual harassment and identifies policies and procedures to encourage the reporting of sexual harassment. Our findings are discussed in terms of the need for organizations to develop more user-friendly sexual harassment reporting procedures.     

The relationship between gender,personal experience,and perceptions of sexual harassment in the workplace

In this study 352 working men and women responded to a questionnaire about their perceptions of what constituted sexual harassment. It was hypothesized that females, compared to males, would view ambiguous sexually oriented work behavior as more harassing. It was also hypothesized that those who had been a target of sexual harassment, compared to those who had not been a target, would view ambiguous sexually oriented work behavior as more harassing. Both hypotheses were supported. Additionally, after taking into account the effect of having been a target of sexual harassment, the effect of gender on perceptions of sexual harassment was found to be spurious. Implications for management and future research are discussed. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1993 Southern Management Association meeting in New Orleans.     

Institutional strategies for dealing with sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is being recognized as a pervasive and highly visible problem at an institutional level. As a consequence institutions are establishing policies and procedures to address this issue. In view of recent legal decisions, sexual harassment can have negative consequences for the institution as well as the harassee; thus, in some institutions, sexual harassment is viewed as a common problem shared by employers and employees. This article addresses institutional strategies that have proven effective in proactively dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace.     

Rights and responsibilities of dissent: Cooperative conflict

Cooperative conflict research supports the value of the right to dissent and self-expression as contributing significantly to organizational effectiveness. Through conflict, problems are identified, and solutions created and accepted, and a sense of justice and fairness established. Research also proposes a corresponding responsibility that employees and employers should establish a strong cooperative context for managing conflict. Structuring a conflict-positive organization is a powerful way to capture the benefits of conflict and support the right of dissent.     

育龄妇女职场性权益保护的研讨

当前,职场性骚扰问题已经受到各界的普遍关注,保护职场育龄妇女性权益势在必行。本文从理论与法律上对性骚扰进行了分析,最后提出了育龄妇女在职场面对性骚扰时应采取的对策与证据。     

The effects of diversity on sexual harassment: Some recommendations for research

This article speculates about some of the possible effects of increasing organizational diversity upon sexual harassment, and suggests some potential research opportunities and directions. Discussion and research recommendations center around the following aspects of sexual harassment: (1) antecedents of harassment; (2) behaviors exhibited; (3) perceptions of behaviors; (4) immediate reactions of harassees; and (5) longer-term individual and organizational outcomes of sexual harassment.     

Defending your life: When women complain about sexual harassment

Women who complain about sexual harassment in a union work environment may find that they are the focal point of the union’s defense of the alleged harasser. The defense the union uses can be broadly defined as one of four: deny the event, blame management, blame society, and blame the victim. This study investigates the frequency with which these defenses are used and their relative effectiveness. Deny the event and blame the victim were used in more than 80% of the cases. Their use was not significantly changed over time. There was no significant difference in the arbitrator’s decision based on the defense used by the union. It is suggested that unions consider using the blame management defense because it is equally effective but does not have the same negative effects on the victim as denying the event or blaming the victim.     

Constructive responses to sexual harassment in the workplace

Sexual harassment is a significant problem in the workplace, including the union work environment. A repertoire of positive responses can be called upon to deal with sexual harassment: (1) Complainants can be empowered to become agents of action and to respond effectively, orally or in writing, to sexual harassment. (2) Shuttle diplomacy utilizing a neutral third party can be effective in both stopping harassment and fostering communication between grievant and harasser. (3) Mediation by a neutral third party can provide immediate communication and restoration of a constructive workplace atmosphere. (4) Generic solutions (workshops, seminars, etc.) focus on the problem or on a generalized approach to improve the workplace setting rather than the individual. (5) Establishment of sexual harassment policies or a policy of well-being of staff can establish a supportive institutional framework. (6) As an extension of its sexual harassment or well-being policies, management can convene workshops, seminars, etc. to educate all its constituents. (7) In many organizations, appointment of an Ombudsperson has provided an effective mechanism for dealing with harassment. This ensemble of options can be utilized prior to loding a formal grievance. In many instances, these maneuvers can effectively deal with sexual harassment.     

The legal history of work-related sexual harassment and implications for employers

Over the years, the courts have come to consider sexual harassment as a kind of sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Employers are held liable for sexual harassment, and have an affirmative action obligation to eliminate sexual harassment from the workplace. The courts and the EEOC Guidelines have defined sexual harassment as tangible employment consequences or behavior that creates a hostile or offensive working environment. Employers can limit their liability by creating a system to detect sexual harassment and to remedy it promptly. Suggestions to wards developing a strong policy to eliminate sexual harassment from the workplace are given.     

Privacy and Personnel Selection: Reciprocal Rights and Responsibilities

Previous models of invasion of privacy in selection have stressed applicant rights to the exclusion of applicant responsibilities, and have slighted organizational incumbents' needs to acquire accurate knowledge about prospective co-workers. To correct this imbalance, a reciprocal model, enumerating and justifying possible rights and responsibilities of applicants, organizational management, and organizational incumbents, is postulated. This normative model is contrasted with the current mistrust that characterizes many selection interactions. Propositions suggesting ways of gaining the information that organizations require, while still respecting the privacy needs of applicants, are advanced. Tentative suggestions for how human resource professionals could initiate these positive changes are suggested as well.