The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature…when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly
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affects an individual’s employment, work performance, or creates a hostile or offensive work environment” (U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission). Approximately 12,500 charges of sexual harassment were brought to the () in Fiscal Year 2007, 16 percent of which were filed by males. Yes, males can be sexually harassed, too. These numbers are likely well beneath actual occurrences because, like most charges of a sexual nature, many incidences go unreported (U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission).
The Supreme Court on June 26, 1998, made employers more liable for incidents of sexual harassment. The Supreme Court basically stated that the employer is responsible for the actions of the supervisor, even when the employer is unaware of the supervisor’s behavior. An employer can no longer claim that they did not know about the sexual harassment because the employee did not inform them, nor can they claim that they were unaware of the supervisor’s behavior. This means that even though the employer has a policy against sexual harassment and even when sexual harassment training is provided for their supervisors, they still can be held liable in cases where a supervisor uses sexual content to discriminate against an employee (pbs news hour, 1998).
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I believe prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employees, male or female, must be aware of their own professionalism whether it is how they dress, their mannerisms, body language, or how they speak. Unwelcome sexual advances can affect an employee’s work performance, and a supervisor’s harassment towards a subordinate is wrong and is against the law. Businesses know it exists, but aren’t always sure what to do about it. This then leaves the burden of proof and credibility on the shoulders of the employee, which can make the employee feel alone and very unimportant. Power is often the reason behind sexual harassment. Some individuals in higher positions of power use this power as a weapon or tool to get an employee to do what they want them to do. There are many different forms of sexual harassment such as verbal, visual, and physical. Verbal comments can be about clothing or sexual-based jokes. Visual harassment can be a poster, drawings, pictures, screensavers, or emails of sexual content. Physical harassment is assault, or of inappropriate touching of a person’s clothing, kissing, or hugging (Everton & Jolton, 2007). Although the ratio of women to be the victims of sexual harassment is higher, men also face harassment. Harm caused by sexual harassment often includes humiliation, loss of dignity, mental or physical
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injury, or damage to an employee’s professional reputation. These may also lead to an employee fearing for their own personal safety.
In conclusion, I do believe Ms. Lorenzana was a bit reckless in her choice off clothing, and although the actions of her male bosses and colleagues was unacceptable and inappropriate, she had a responsibility to “herself” to project a more business like appearance by possibly rethinking her wardrobe and how others may view her as a professional. Companies still need to take sexual harassment seriously. They need to keep tabs on their management by holding regular meetings, unscheduled visits, and by having more sexual harassment training. I believe it would also be a good idea for upper management to have scheduled employee meetings on issues such as sexual harassment. They also need to respond promptly to any accusations concerning sexual harassment as a delay in doing so may give the accused reason to believe that what they’re doing is acceptable and are in no danger of getting caught. Preventing sexual harassment in the workplace can save in thousands of legal fees and increase employee productivity.
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References
New York Times: Dressed to Distract. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
.
EEOC: Sexual Harassment. Retrieved June 17, 2010. http://
eeoc.gov/laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm.
PBS News Hour: Supreme Court Decision on Sexual Harassment
(1998). Retrieved June 18, 2010.
hour/bb/law/jan-june98/sex_6-26.html.
Everton, P., & Jolton, K., (Spring 2007). Sexual Harassment in
The Workplace.
