Sexual Harassment in the Workplace - Essay Example

Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Sexual Harassment at the Workplace 0 Introduction A lot of publi has been witnessed about sexual harassment in the workplace that has been aimed at trying to curb the vice. However, despite this widespread publicity of its perils, many businesses in the United States are yet to address this issue, according to researchers. The issue begun as a small problem in the workplace, but now, it has been reported to have reached its highest management levels. The same businesses that know about the existence of this problem in the workplaces are not sure what to do about it (Anonymous, 2004). Employers have for this reason been charged with the liability of any sexual harassment cases that take place in the workplaces and such cases where employers have been charged with the same, are in the rise. 1.1 Why the Topic is of Interest to me In most cases, questions have been asked whether certain practices can amount to sexual harassment. As a result, a definition was developed that can holistically describe what falls within the set described as "sexual harassment." It entails any unwelcome sexual behavior that is capable of offending, intimidating and humiliating a person. The alleged behavior does not necessarily have to be physical. However, verbal as well as written behaviors can also amount to sexual harassment. In the workplace, sexual harassment is covered when it is between colleagues but outside of work, between people sharing the same place of work, when it is at work and work-related events. The law protects employees or even job applicants from being harassed at the workplace just because of their sex. Sexual harassment victims do not have to be only women. Even men are harassed sexually, and sometimes, the victim and the harasser can be people of the same sex. Workplace sexual harassment has been found to be perpetrated majorly by the victims supervisors, managers, employers or just their bosses to crown it all. In such cases, it is considered that the harasser takes advantage of their position in the workplace and use it to intimidate their victims by sexually harassing them (Jackson & Newman, 2004). Many victims have been reported to have lost their jobs by being fired as others have been demoted just because they tried to resist being sexually harassed by their bosses. There have for this reason been legal measures and workplace policies that have been put in place to deal with such misconducts in the workplace. The essay, for this reason, aims at discussing some of the ethical, as well as legal issues around sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as how law and ethical codes of conduct can be applied to this issue. 1.2 Relevance to Career Field Sexual harassment is unethical vice in the society. In my career area, Im meant to study both the ethical and unethical issues and behaviors that we go about in the society. In my endeavors, Im expected to become a professional who can identify ethical and unethical issues in accordance with the laid down standards, policies, laws and societal codes. At the same time, Im expected in my career to provide guidelines on how to solve such issues in the society and how to apply law and ethical regulations when going about solving the issues (Yieke, 2004). In this case, the topic is about sexual harassment in the workplace, which is one of the unethical conducts in my career line. The topic is, for this reason, relevant to my career field as it encourages healthy and happy coexistence in the workplace and the society as a whole, hence harmonious living. 2.0 Statement of the Problem 2.1 The Ethical or Legal Issue All cases involving sexual harassment require quick and appropriate response from the managers of the company involved. It neither matters how big or small it is nor who is it being accused of the offense. This is important because, when left without being responded to, sexual harassment is capable of tarnishing the company name including the managers as well as compel them to meet hefty penalties under the guidance of the law (Baugh, 1997). On the other hand, it can also cause the victims to be demoted or even lose their jobs if a quick response is not made. The managers should not sit and wait since no one is objecting to the inappropriate behavior. The fact that no one is objecting does not mean that the victims are consenting to the irresponsible behavior. The law specifies that sexual harassment is an offence. It, for this reason, qualifies some sexual harassment types as offences under the criminal law. Criminal offenses are reported to the police. For this reason, these types of sexual harassment that are considered as criminal offences should be reported to the police. Such types of sexual harassment considered criminal offenses include stalking, threatening or obscene communication, sexual assault, as well as indecent exposure. Such acts are to be reported to the police since they are unethical and illegal. Employers and managers of companies are always required to be vigilant about issues of sexual harassment and deal with them as soon as they occur. This is usually to avoid being vicariously liable for such sexual harassment act that is committed by their agents or employees in their companies. Sexual harassment in the workplace, however, is not selective, and anyone can be liable of it including contractors, customers, agents, managers, supervisors, clients and even employers (Kohlman, 2004). It can be considered when it takes place outside the workplace, but between colleagues and at an even outside the workplace but related to work. It is unethical for employees or members of an industrial organization to sexually harass members of the organization or even members who are seeking to join the organization, or other employees (Williams, Giuffre, & Dellinger, 1999). When an industrial union member is sexually harassed by another member in the workplace, the victim is covered by law and is expected to file a lawsuit pursuing justice for the uncouth act. Members of professional bodies are also covered by law when they are sexually harassed in the workplace. The law also covers partners in a firm who must not be abused by other partners sexually (Newman, Jackson, & Baker, 2003). 2.2 Why Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Causes Conflict in Decision Making In decision-making, there are three main factors why sexual harassment in the workplace causes conflicts. These factors include the establishment of whether an act is really considered under sexual harassment, who is liable for the sexual harassment suffered by a victim in the workplace, and whether the alleged sexual harassment was duly reported as per the Company policy and regulations on sexual harassment (Brooks-Gordon, 1999). These factors are majorly considered when solving the sexual harassment cases and some of them cause a lot of conflicts that leave either side not satisfied with the decision of the judge. It usually becomes hard to justify whether an act is considered under sexual harassment or not. This issue causes a lot of conflict in the determination process of whether an act is qualified as a sexual harassment or not. Sometimes it is the words that the harasser used that was alleged to amount to sexual harassment. However, it becomes very difficult to prove through evidence in court that the words could amount to sexual harassment without a recording. The courts will require a recorded version of the words spoken to prove that someone truly harassed you sexually. Without that, there will be a lack of adequate proof due to lack of evidence. Hence, the case will be withdrawn without charges on the alleged harasser. Similarly, another issue causing conflict in decision-making is the fact that the act of sexual harassment can be caused by an employee, but if the employers do not respond faster to correct the issue, they are also held liable. Employers can argue that they did their part by providing policy against sexual harassment to their employees who read them well and signed. However, sometimes, employees may fail to report such cases to time due to the fear of possible sack. If the employee decides to take the issue later on, even the employer will be held liable for having not taken action when it was required. The employer will then be required to compensate the victim for the pain and suffering they underwent when working for them (Tsai & Kleiner, 1999). This kind of decision is appropriate to act as a lesson to other employers to avoid negligence and ensure that their systems and policies are working. For this reason, they will not tolerate any sexual harassment in the workplace and will encourage the victims to report whenever such acts take place. The third issue of conflict during decision-making is the fact that many of these case are not reported. Employees can be sexually repeatedly harassed in the workplace, but due to fear of losing their jobs, they decide not to report such cases. They try put up with the bad behavior just to allow them secure their jobs (Bateman, 1992). However, it comes a time when they cannot bear it anymore or wait until they quit working for the company. When they file a complaint later, they might not receive the justice they require as, at times, they lack valid evidence and proof. Such claims are considered to have passed long ago without a formal complaint being launched. For this reason, it becomes difficult to establish their validity to prosecute the case. Events of sexual harassment are, therefore, expected to be reported soon after they occur to help with investigations for justice to be provided where it is due. 3.0 Supporting Research 3.1 Foundational Legal/Ethical Principles, Modes, and Theories Considered There was an amendment by the Congress on Title VII, in 1991, to allow who suffered from sexual harassment to be able to recover damages under the federal law, and that included punitive damages. Later in 1993, the Supreme Court of the United States gave this law a broader reach through making it easier for one to prove injury. By then, these laws provided increased liability to businesses due to sexual harassment in the workplace. It is, therefore, very important that Companies be aware of current trends in the law to know about ways that they can become protected to avoid risk liabilities (Cochran, 2004). The first sexual harassment case under Title VII was resolved in 1976 by the District Court of the District Columbia. Since then, the number of cases of sexual harassment that have been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as well as the federal and state courts, have dramatically increased. Due to conflicting issues during the decision-making period, victims of sexual harassment who filed cases in courts found themselves in a legal quandary. The law that was active by that time could only protect the victims from on-job discrimination as well as sexual harassment, but it was worthless pursuing such cases since there was little compensation (Basu, 2003). Most of the time, the victims who could gather the courage to speak out were risking their jobs, careers, and reputation with only some little reward. Until 1991, the victims of sexual harassment were only entitled to collect back pay, lost wages as well as being reinstated if they had lost their jobs, through Title VII. The pain and suffering they underwent was not compensated. These made women who filed EEOC complaints to continue being harassed sexual in the workplace until most of them decided to quit. It was hard to win the case battle against rich employers, but if they won, they only went home with some little money and intolerable job backs. The victims could also file tort actions for false imprisonment, battery, assault, or infliction of mental distress. As a result, these victims of sexual harassment were able to find little satisfaction in the legal system for they harm they underwent. Due to those many downfalls, the Congress then amended the Civil Rights Act 1991. This has allowed sexual harassment victims to receive compensatory damages that are reasonable, and they may also receive such compensations when they take the alternative jury trial. The damages they receive currently include the future losses that they victims have suffered by stopping their work at the company, mental anguish, suffering, emotional pain, inconveniences, as well as loss of enjoyment of life. The Fair Employment Protection Act (S. 2133, H.R. 4227) also came as an amendment to the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to provide more compensation to the victims of sexual harassment and give more punishment to the harassers (National Womens Law Center, 2014). The law also made it easy to establish sexual harassment, as well as fight against discrimination at the workplace. 3.2 How Sexual Harassment Related to Cases in the Research One example is that of Hall v. Gus Construction Co., which is a construction company that hired women to help with the work as flag persons, who are better known as traffic controllers at the road construction sites (Barry & Richard, 2009). Their male counterparts at the workplace continually subjected these women to verbal sexual abuse and made sexual advances to the several times. Their supervisor was well aware of this issue. In the court, it was found that the conduct of these male workers had violated Title VII because it was unwelcome conduct that was sexual in nature. 4.0 Recommendations 4.1 Strategies to Resolve Sexual Harassment Cases at Hand Sexual harassment cases should be prosecuted. For this reason, the first strategy to deal with the issue at hand is to file a court case to prosecute a sexual harassment case. However, this might ruin the smooth operation of a company. For this reason, before the case is filed, the company can decide to offer justice to the offended out of court (Smalensky & Kleimer, 1999). This can include compensation, offering job promotions and protection against such cases in the future. The third strategy, however, would be to deal with the harassers in a way that may act as a lesson to others. They may be removed from the job and be made to be prosecuted for their wrong acts. 4.2 Strategies to Reduce Risk for Future Dilemmas To ensure that such behaviors of sexual harassment are not repeated in the future, several strategies may apply. The first strategy may be to ensure that the management encourages reporting of cases of sexual harassment by assuring the victims protection for their jobs. Secondly, hefty fines should be applied against employers who do not implement the sexual harassment policy and make it available to the employees (Takeyama & Kleiner, 1998). Those employers who do not take action whenever they receive reports about sexual harassment should also be prosecuted. In this way, employers will be proactive to do what is right at the right time. Thirdly, those who are guilty of committing such unacceptable behaviors should be heavily punished and slapped with hefty fines to make them think twice the next time they want to commit the same mistakes. References Anonymous. (2004). Sexual harassment in the workplace. Women in Management Review, 19(5/6), 281-282. Barry, S. R., & Richard, A. M. (2009, July 13). Sexual harassment in the workplace: A Primer. Retrieved from Aukron.edu: http://www3.uakron.edu/lawrev/robert1.html Basu, K. (2003). The economics and law of sexual harassment in the workplace. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(3), 141-157. Bateman, P. (1992). Step forward: Sexual harassment in the workplace. Violence and Victims, 7(4), 357-358. Baugh, G. S. (1997). On the persistence of sexual harassment in the workplace. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(9), 899-908. Brooks-Gordon, B. (1999). Sexual harassment in the workplace. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 72, 117-119. Cochran, A. B. (2004). Unwelcome and unlawful: sexual harassment in the American workplace. Choice, 42(4), 704. Jackson, R., & Newman, M. (2004, Nov/Dec). Sexual harassment in the federal workplace revisited: Influences on sexual harassment by gender. Public Administration Review, 64(6), 705-717. Kohlman, M. H. (2004). Person or Position?: The demographics of sexual harassmentin the workplace. Equal Opportunities International, 23(3-5), 143-161. National Womens Law Center. (2014, March). The fair employment protection Act: Section-by-Section Summary. Employment Fact Sheet, 1. Retrieved from http://www.nwlc.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/fair_employment_protection_act_section_by_section.pdf Newman, m., Jackson, R., & Baker, D. (2003). Sexual harassment in the federal workplace. Public Administration Review, 63(4), 472-483. Smalensky, E., & Kleimer, B. H. (1999). How to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Equal Opportunities International, 18(2-4), 3-7. Takeyama, D., & Kleiner, B. H. (1998). How to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Equal Opportunities International, 17(6), 6-12. Tsai, M., & Kleiner, B. H. (1999). How to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace. Equal Opportunities International, 18(1), 1-7. Williams, C. L., Giuffre, P., & Dellinger, K. (1999). Sexuality in the workplace: Organizational control, sexual harassment and the pursuit of pleasure. Annual Review of Sociology, 25, 73-93. Yieke, F. (2004). Sexual harassment in the workplace: A case for linguistic and sexual politics. Journal of Cultural Studies, 6(2), 175-196. Read More