It has been a year since the #MeToo movement seized public attention. The year has shown us just how difficult it is for human resources directors, general counsel, compliance officers and diversity and inclusion directors to make the business case for harassment prevention to their leadership. Many of the people in these roles know, as we do, that stopping and preventing workplace harassment is not only a moral imperative, it is also sound corporate strategy.
In the past fiscal year the filing of sexual-harassment cases by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission more than doubled, and monetary damages paid by employers increased from $47 million to $70 million in EEOC cases. These statistics do not include the costs of sexual-harassment cases brought by private plaintiff attorneys or other forms of harassment investigated or litigated by the EEOC or private attorneys.
Damage awards and litigation costs are not the only financial consequences of corporate failure to stop and prevent workplace harassment, though. Employees who are harassed, as well as those who work with harassed employees, suffer adverse physical and mental-health consequences, resulting in absenteeism and higher medical costs. Harassment reduces the productivity of both harassed employees and the unit in which the harassment occurs. And reputational harm can also be devastating to an employer’s business.
Unfortunately many employers have still failed to implement the best and most effective measures to prevent workplace harassment. Traditional training that is focused on legal definitions and prohibitions of unlawful conduct is necessary but insufficient to prevent large judgments against a company and to prevent future misconduct.
To stop harassment effectively and to prevent its recurrence, employers need to create a culture of respect and inclusivity, where people feel safe when reporting misconduct, and where there are clear and immediate consequences for having engaged in harassment.
Chai R. Feldblum & Sharon P. Masling
Chai R. Feldblum is a commissioner at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Sharon P. Masling is Feldblum’s chief of staff.
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