In our Sexual Harassment Awareness training courses your employees will learn and apply the important skills of handling sexual harassment issues and complaints. This hands on course thoroughly addresses the elements of how to prevent unacceptable behavior. The course 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 courses 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 course and the costs for conducting it. 

Sexual Harassment Training:
Sexual Harassment Training Courses - Workplace Sexual Harassment FAQ

1. How can I complain to my company about my supervisor's inappropriate conduct?

If you have made it clear to your supervisor that he or she is engaging in conduct that you consider unwelcome, and the conduct does not stop, you may now wish to report this conduct to your employer. The company may still be legally liable for harassment by its supervisors, even if the harassment is not reported but if you do not report the conduct, you run the risk that the supervisor will further escalate the harassment and/or harass other employees.

Once you report the harassment, the next step is for your employer to promptly investigate your claim. You should fully cooperate with any investigation, as your failure to do so could negatively affect any legal claim you may have. It is illegal for employers to retaliate against employees for bringing or participating in complaints, but it does happen, so be sure that you also keep track of and report any incidences of retaliation.

The investigator will need to know all the details of what you consider to be harassment, including information such as the names of any potential witnesses or other victims of the same harasser, specific descriptions of the offensive conduct, a chronology of when specific events happened and any reasons, if applicable, why you delayed reporting the harassment. Discussing this information with the investigator may be very embarrassing or difficult, but it is very important that you disclose all details of the harassment to the investigator. Otherwise, your integrity may be questioned later for failing to disclose relevant information, or the company could conclude that the problem is not severe or pervasive enough to warrant any corrective action.

You should also expect your employer to take remedial action if it determines that sexual harassment or some other inappropriate behavior did occur, to deter the conduct from happening again. Disciplinary actions might include oral or written warnings, deferral of a raise or promotion, demotion or reassignment, suspension, or discharge. Your employer might also require counseling for the harasser. Even if this is the first time that the company was made aware of the actions of your supervisor, it also may be legally liable for a sexual harassment claim if the conduct was severe enough to constitute a tangible employment action. However, just because an employer disciplines the harasser, it does not necessarily mean that the conduct is severe enough to legally qualify as sexual harassment.

2. My company doesn't have a policy about what to do when harassment happens. Isn't that against the law?

While not specifically required by federal law, it generally is necessary for employers to establish, publicize, and enforce anti-harassment policies and complaint procedures, and may be required under law in some states. A company who fails to establish a harassment policy will have a great deal of difficulty proving that it exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct harassment, which is part of the employer's defense in harassment cases where there has not been a tangible employment action. As a result of the law's development in this area, most companies have wisely chosen to adopt anti-harassment policies and complaint procedures.

Your employer should provide every employee with a copy of the anti-harassment policy and complaint procedure, and redistribute it periodically. The policy and complaint procedure should be written in a way that will be understood by all employees in the employer's workforce. Other ways your employer can distribute the policy and complaint procedures include posting them in central locations and incorporating them into employee handbooks. If feasible, your employer should provide training to all employees to ensure that they understand their rights and responsibilities.

An anti-harassment policy and complaint procedure should contain, at a minimum, the following elements:

1. A clear explanation of prohibited conduct;
2. Assurance that employees who make complaints of harassment or provide information related to such complaints will be protected against retaliation;
3. A clearly described complaint process that provides accessible avenues of complaint;
4. Assurance that the employer will protect the confidentiality of harassment complaints to the extent possible;
5. A complaint process that provides a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation; and
6. Assurance that the employer will take immediate and appropriate corrective action when it determines that harassment has occurred.

Small businesses may be able to adopt less formal procedures. For example, if a business is sufficiently small that the owner maintains regular contact with all employees, the owner can tell the employees at staff meetings that harassment is prohibited, that employees should report such conduct promptly, and that a complaint can be brought "straight to the top." If the business conducts a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation of any complaint that arises and undertakes swift and appropriate corrective action, it will have fulfilled its responsibility to "effectively prevent and correct harassment," even if a more formal policy is not in place.

If you have been harassed and your company does not have such a policy, you should consult with a lawyer immediately to get advice about how to proceed. This is a constantly developing area, and any actions you take could affect the outcome of your future lawsuit against the company, if one is brought.

If you have not been harassed, but want to know what happens when and if someone is harassed, or want your company to improve its employment practices, you may wish to suggest to your supervisor, your human resources department or some other department or person within your organization who has the power to create new employment policies that an anti-harassment policy be developed and distributed to all employees.

3. The person to whom I am supposed to report harassment is the person who is harassing me! Obviously, reporting it to him isn't going to do any good. What do I do?

If your employer's complaint procedure instructs employees to report harassment only to their immediate supervisors, it may be legally inadequate, because it doesn't adequately address situations where the supervisor is the one committing harassment or may not be impartial. Employers are generally advised to designate at least one official outside an employee's chain of command to take complaints, to ensure that the complaint will be handled impartially.

You should first find out whether someone other than your supervisor has been designated to accept complaints. If so, then you should report your harassment complaint to that person, and explain why you were unable to report your complaint to your supervisor. If not, you should register your complaint with someone who is higher than your supervisor in the chain of command, and also explain while doing so why you were unable to report your complaint to your supervisor. It is generally a good idea, and especially in this situation, to report your complaint in writing, so that the company has a written record of your complaint.

4. My supervisor is pressuring my coworker to have sex and using sexually suggestive language towards her. It bothers me and I want him to stop. Can I do anything about it, or does she have to complain?

Even if the sexually suggestive language is not directed at you, if you are required to listen to it in your work environment, it may be considered hostile work environment harassment, and you could take all of the steps available to those who have harassing words directed specifically at them. However, if it were a purely private matter—your coworker is being pressured outside of work or when no other employees are around, and no other employees are being forced to listen to the sexually suggestive language, then generally only your coworker would have grounds to complain or pursue a harassment claim.

5. After I was harassed, I complained to the company and it took care of the problem by transferring the harasser. Can I still file a lawsuit?

It depends. A company that was previously unaware of a harasser's conduct, and that took immediate and effective action once the harassing conduct was brought to the company's attention, is likely to successfully defend a lawsuit brought by a complaining employee where there has not been a tangible employment action. However, where there has been a tangible employment action, the company's response does not affect whether you can bring a legal claim. Also, if the transfer was not effective to stop the harassment (the harasser harasses people in his or her new department or location), then the company may not be able to use the action it took (the transfer) as a defense, because the response has to be effectively designed to stop the harassment.

6. After I was harassed, I complained to the company and it didn't do anything. I'm still being harassed by my supervisor. What do I do now?

Was the complaint investigated or not?

If the prior complaint was not investigated at all, return to the person or department to whom you previously complained and find out why your complaint was not investigated. Be sure to provide information about the new harassment that was not part of the previous complaint. Make it clear that you expect the company to investigate your complaint.

If the prior complaint was investigated, but nothing was done to the harasser, find out why. Was it because an investigation did not turn up sufficient proof? If so, find out (either from the company or other witnesses to the harassment) whether other employees were interviewed, and what information (if any) the company is willing to disclose about what it learned in the investigation. Perhaps your witnesses were fearful for their jobs and did not back you up, or the company did not do a thorough investigation. Some companies take the position that disciplinary matters are confidential, and even though discipline was taken, the company will not tell you what happened. However, if you are still being harassed, you should make the point that the action taken was not effective to prevent the harassment from happening again, and that a stronger deterrent is necessary. You may also want to consult with an attorney at this point to determine whether you have a legal claim based on what has happened.

7. After I was harassed, I complained to the company, and it agreed to investigate. The company didn't talk to any of the witnesses I suggested, and now I've been told there is no evidence of harassment. What do I do now?

Has the harassment stopped? If so, perhaps the threat of the investigation itself has been sufficient to deter your harasser from further harassing conduct. You still may be able to file a legal claim, based on what happened prior to the investigation, but it may be an uphill battle proving harassment, since the company's actions may not appear to be unreasonable.

However, if the harassment has not stopped, then you may be able to prove that the company's investigation was inadequate and not sufficient to deter future harassment. You may also want to consult with an attorney at this point to determine whether you have a legal claim based on what has happened.

8. After I was harassed, I complained to the company. I asked that my complaint be kept confidential, because I didn't intend to pursue it any further. However, the company obviously disclosed my complaint to the harasser and several co-workers. What do I do now?

When you first complained of harassment, your employer should have made clear to you that it will protect the confidentiality of harassment allegations to the extent possible. An employer cannot be expected to guarantee complete confidentiality, since it may be impossible to conduct an effective investigation without revealing certain information to the alleged harasser and potential witnesses. However, information about your allegation and any record of your complaint of harassment should have been shared only with those who need to know about it.

There can also sometimes be a conflict between your desire for confidentiality and your employer's legal duty to investigate, if you inform a supervisor about alleged harassment, but ask him or her to keep the matter confidential and take no action. If the supervisor does nothing, it could subject the employer to a future lawsuit. While it may seem reasonable to let you determine whether or not to pursue a complaint, the employer still has a duty to prevent and correct harassment.

One mechanism to help avoid such conflicts in the future would be for your employer to set up an informational phone line which employees can use to discuss questions or concerns about harassment on an anonymous basis. It may be too late for you, but it could prevent others from having a similar experience to yours.

If the harasser or other coworkers are treating you differently because you made a complaint, that can be a form of retaliation, which is also illegal. (See the next question for more information on this topic.) You may also want to consult with an attorney at this point to determine whether you have a legal claim based on what has happened.

9. After I was harassed, I complained to the company. Even though the harassment stopped, I'm now known as a troublemaker, my coworkers won't talk to me, and I haven't been given the overtime hours I used to routinely receive. Is this legal?

Not only can sexual harassment be against the law, but retaliating (taking revenge) against someone for complaining about sexual harassment or for participating in an investigation of sexual harassment can be against the law as well.

Some examples of retaliation include: you complain about sexual harassment and are made to take an unpaid leave of absence, although the harasser continues to work; after you write a letter describing sexual harassment that you witnessed, you are reassigned to a less desirable position in the same or different department, or the situation described above, if it can be shown that the lack of overtime assignments was related to your harassment rather than a business downturn or other business-related reason.

If your employer retaliates against you for complaining about sexual harassment or for participating as a witness in an investigation of sexual harassment, you may take any or all of the steps suggested here for those who have been harassed. It may be more difficult to address your coworkers' treatment, unless you can show that your employer through its managers or supervisors have encouraged them to give you the silent treatment. If so, this may be additional evidence of retaliation. If not, you may want to enlist the assistance of a sympathetic coworker or supervisor to see if the situation can be improved.

10. After I was harassed, I complained to the company. The person harassing me stopped, but now I have to work with her everyday, and it makes me very uncomfortable. I have asked the company to transfer one of us, but it refuses. What do I do now?

An employer in this situation may be faced with two competing principles:

One principle is that disciplinary measures should be proportional to the seriousness of the offense. If the harassment was minor, such as a small number of "off-color" remarks by an individual with no prior history of similar misconduct, then counseling and an oral warning might be all that is necessary. On the other hand, if the harassment was severe or persistent, then suspension or discharge may be appropriate.

A second principle that the employer must keep in mind is that remedial measures should not adversely affect the person who complains of harassment. For example, if it is necessary to separate the parties, then the harasser should be transferred (unless the complainant prefers otherwise). Remedial responses that penalize the complainant could constitute unlawful retaliation and are not effective in correcting the harassment.

Companies have a number of options when dealing with an employee who either admits the harassment or is found by the company to have engaged in harassment, based on the evidence. The following is a list of actions open to the company that have been recognized as appropriate responses to harassment:

Examples of measures to stop the harassment and ensure that it does not recur:

1. oral or written warning or reprimand;
2. transfer or reassignment;
3. demotion;
4. reduction of wages;
5. suspension;
6. discharge;
7. training or counseling of harasser to ensure that s/he understands why his or her conduct violated the employer's anti-harassment policy; and
8. monitoring of harasser to ensure that harassment stops.

Examples of measures to correct the effects of the harassment:

1. restoration of leave taken because of the harassment;
2. expungement of negative evaluation(s) in employee's personnel file that arose from the harassment;
3. reinstatement;
4. apology by the harasser;
5. monitoring treatment of employee to ensure that s/he is not subjected to retaliation by the harasser or others in the work place because of the complaint; and
6. correction of any other harm caused by the harassment (e.g., compensation for losses).

Your company, based upon its perception of the seriousness of the offense, may have chosen to take measures other than transfer or reassignment of the harasser to stop the harassment. Given that the harassment has stopped, it may not be legally obligated to transfer the harasser if lesser measures were sufficient, and the only remaining problem is merely your discomfort. The company may also fear that accepting your offer to be transferred will invite a future retaliation claim and/or there may not be other appropriate jobs available at this time. You may want to consult with an attorney at this point to determine whether you have a legal claim based on what has happened, or whether there are any other ways you may be able to obtain a transfer.

11. I had a relationship with my boss for a while, but it's over. I have asked him to leave me alone, but he keeps trying to get me to go out with him again. What do I do now?

One legal requirement for sexual harassment is that the conduct be "unwelcome." Make sure that your boss knows that you now consider his conduct to be unwelcome. Tell him that his behavior offends you. Firmly refuse all invitations for dates or other personal inaction outside of work. Don't engage in sexual banter or flirt back in response, or otherwise send any mixed signals. Direct communication, whether verbal or in writing, is better than ignoring the behavior and hoping it will go away. If the conduct continues, then it is very important that you complain right away to your company. (For more information about complaining, see question 18.)

Here's what will be relevant to determining whether or not you have a sexual harassment claim: Did you clearly make it known to him his actions were unwelcome? Did you complain internally under the firm's harassment policy? Did your own actions indicate that his behavior was welcome?

It is admittedly more difficult, but not impossible, to prove the conduct is "unwelcome" when you first willingly participate in conduct of a sexual nature but then cease to participate and then claim that any continued sexual conduct has created a hostile work environment. Here you will have the burden of showing that any further sexual conduct is unwelcome, work-related harassment. However, if your boss pursues a "tangible employment action" because you will not continue the relationship, then your case becomes stronger, because if you are demoted, fired or treated similarly, the issue of whether the conduct was "unwelcome" is no longer a key factor. The question then will be whether there was a non-discriminatory reason for tangible employment action, and there will be a strong assumption that discrimination was the reason in a situation when a harassing supervisor undertakes or has significant input into a tangible employment action affecting you, because it can be assumed that the harasser could not make decisions about your employment in an objective, non-discriminatory fashion.

You may want to consult with an attorney at this point to determine whether you have a legal claim based on what has happened, or whether there are any other ways you may be able to obtain a transfer.

12. I've been falsely accused of sexual harassment by an employee I supervise, because she didn't get her raise this year due to poor performance. She claims it happened when no one else was around, so it's a "he said, she said" situation. Now other people in the company have heard the rumors and it's an uncomfortable situation, and I fear I might lose my job. What do I do?

First, here's what you have the right to expect from your company when it investigates the complaint.

1. An employer should conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation. As soon as management learns about alleged harassment, it should determine whether a detailed fact-finding investigation is necessary. If a fact-finding investigation is necessary, it should be launched immediately. The amount of time that it will take to complete the investigation will depend on the particular circumstances. If, for example, multiple individuals were allegedly harassed, then it will take longer to interview the parties and witnesses.
2. The investigator should interview the employee who complained of harassment, the alleged harasser, and others who could reasonably be expected to have relevant information.
3. Before completing the investigation, the employer should take steps to make sure that harassment does not continue. If the parties have to be separated, then the separation should not burden the employee who has complained of harassment. An involuntary transfer of the complainant could constitute unlawful retaliation. Other examples of interim measures are making scheduling changes to avoid contact between the parties or placing the alleged harasser on non-disciplinary leave with pay pending the conclusion of the investigation.

You may feel that these guidelines favor the person complaining of harassment; however, you should understand that the company could face a serious lawsuit from the person who complains if it does not investigate the complaints promptly and thoroughly. Therefore, many companies take initial complaints very seriously, even if they are later proven to be either untrue or incapable of being substantiated, so you should view a thorough investigation as an opportunity to prove your innocence, rather than as a presumption that you are guilty.

For the protection of both the complainant and the person accused of harassment, information about the allegations and any records of the complaint of harassment against you should have been shared only with those who need to know about it. You should seek assurances from your employer that it will keep information about the complaint confidential, and will ask all participants in the investigation process to do so as well.

You should also be aware that some companies, in an effort to reduce and/or prevent lawsuits, have adopted a "zero tolerance" policy where sexual harassment is concerned, which has led to employees being disciplined or terminated for conduct that was previously tolerated at work. So it is probably wise to realistically assess your conduct to determine whether the complaint may have any merit at all, even if some allegations are either untrue or cannot be proven. Even if your conduct does not get you in trouble this time, it may in the future.

You may also want to consult with an attorney at this point to discuss your participation in the investigation, and to determine whether you have any legal remedies in the event that the company does take any action against you for harassment.

Source: Workplace Fairness link