Raising awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as keys to preventing and reporting it.

1. With All Due Respect
A Harassment Free Workplace

2. To Help Raise Awareness, Prevent
and Report Sexual Harassment.
• Know and understand that harassment is
illegal
• Help you know that your Employer will not
tolerate any harassment
• Recognize the forms of harassment
• Become familiar with your harassment policy
• Learn how to confront harassment

3. It’s Still An Issue
• According to the U.S. equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in fiscal year
2000, almost 16,000 sexual harassment
charges were filed nationwide. Monetary
benefits for victims totaled nearly $55 million.

4. More Likely to Occur
• Where employees don’t perceive
management as taking claims seriously
• Takes adverse action against those who do
speak out
• Where administrators inadequately and
inconsistently enforce policies

5. Most Harassers Are Men
• 90 percent males to females
• 5 percent females to males
• 4 percent males to males
• 1 percent females to female

6. Types of Offenders
• The deliberate
• The unaware
• The uncontrollable

7. Harassment
• Illegal when employer, supervisor, or
co-worker harasses a person because of their
race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin,
age (40 up), disability, sex, arrest or
conviction record, marital status, sexual
orientation or membership in the military
reserve.

8. Sexual Harassment
• Sexual harassment includes unwelcome advances,
requests for sexual favors and verbal or physical conduct
of a sexual nature when:
– Submission is made an implicit or explicit term or
condition of employment
– Submission or rejection of the conduct is used for the
basis for an employment decision affecting the
employee
– The conduct interferes with an employee’s work or
creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work
environment.

9. Same-Sex Harassment
• Recent rulings make it illegal

10. Harassment Includes…
• Verbal abuse, epithets, vulgar or derogatory
language, display of offensive cartoons or
materials, mimicry, lewd or offensive gestures
and telling of jokes offensive to protected class
members.
• More than one incident or comment unless it is
severe. (Title VII)
• Interferes with work or creates an offensive and
hostile work environment.

11. Unwelcome Conduct
• When one does not solicit or entice it, and when
the employee regards the conduct as undesirable
or offensive.
• Since sexual attraction is a normal factor in
employee interactions, the distinction between
advances that are invited, uninvited but welcome,
offensive-but-tolerated and flatly rejected may be
difficult to discern.
• This distinction is important because conduct is
unlawful when it is unwelcome.

12. Unwelcome Conduct/
Eye of the Beholder
• What might be acceptable to one worker
might be offensive and unwelcome to another.
• The U.S. Supreme Court uses the “Reasonable
person” standard in determining if conduct is
harassing.

13. Form 1: Quid Pro Quo (This for That)
• When employment decisions or expectations
(hiring, promotions, salary increases, shift or
work assignments, performance standards)
are based on an employee’s willingness to
grant or deny sexual favors.

14. Quid Pro Quo Examples
• Demanding sexual favors for a promotion or
raise.
• Unwelcome sexual advances.
• Disciplining or firing a subordinate who ends a
romance.
• Changing work standards after a subordinate
refuses repeated requests for a date.

15. Form 2 – Hostile Environment
• Hostile when unwelcome verbal, non-verbal
or physical behavior focusing on sexuality is
severe and pervasive enough to interfere with
the victim’s work performance or be
intimidating or offensive to a reasonable
person.

16. Reasonable Person Standard
• …when conduct is such that a reasonable
person under the same circumstances as the
employee would consider the conduct
sufficiently severe or pervasive to interfere
substantially with the person's work
performance or to create an intimidating,
hostile or offensive work environment.

17. Hostile Environment Examples
• Verbal
– Sexual jokes or insults
– Comments about a person’s body or sex life
– Sexual demeaning comments
– Catcalls, whistles, and forms of address: “honey”
• Non-Verbal
– Gestures and staring
– Display of sexually suggestive or degrading materials
including e-mail or screen savers
– Giving sexually suggestive gifts

18. Hostile Environment Examples
(continued)
• Physical
– Touching, hugging , kissing or smacking lips
– Standing too close, including brushing against a
person’s body
– Blocking a person’s movement
– Pinching, grabbing or patting

19. Important Facts - Harassment
• Non-sexual, abusive, hostile or rude treatment
of one gender may still constitute harassment,
despite absence of overt sexual advances.
• Offenders can be supervisors, co-workers or
non-employees.
• The victim does not have to be directly
involved. A third person can be offended by
harassing behavior among willing participants.

20. Important Facts – Harassment
(continued)
• Unless severe, a single incident or a few isolated
incidents of offensive behavior will not likely rise
to the level of harassment.
• Harassment does not have to be reported or
complained about by the victim to be defined as
harassment.

21. When In Doubt…
• Would you say or do it in front of your
spouse, parent or close friend?
• How would you feel if your spouse, daughter,
sister, mother or close friends were
subjected to the same words or behavior?
• Would you say or do it to a colleague who is
the same sex as you?

22. Consequences
• Lost Work Time
– Harassment is disruptive of production
– Can seriously affect morale
– Increase absenteeism and turnover
• Reputation
– Harasser and employer may be liable

23. Consequences (continued)
• Damages
– Harasser and employer may be personally liable
– Back pay, attorney fees and cost may be
substantial
– Compensatory and punitive damages under
federal law may dramatically increase dollar
damages
– Other laws, such as state sexual assault statutes
may result in criminal charges

24. Fear of Retaliation?
• (S.111.322 (2M), Wis. Stats.)
• Prohibits retaliation of any kind against any
employee bringing a complaint or assisting in
the investigation of a complaint. Such
employees may not be adversely affected in
any manner related to their employment.

25. Examples of Retaliation
• Giving an undeserved poor evaluation
• Assigning to unfavorable tasks
• Avoidance
• Drawing unnecessary attention
• Trying to figure out who told
• Spreading rumors

26. Steps for Harassment Victims
• Say No
– “Inappropriate” versus “harassment”
– Be clear and assertive
– Let them know right away

27. Respect
• Remember it’s not all about what’s unlawful
but what is respectful