RUNNING HEAD; Review of public personnel administration strategy. 24(1), 41-69.

Emmanuel A. Turuka

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

AUTHOR Mani B.G. (2004)

 THE TOPIC:

The employer’s advantages in sexual harassment case: 

How the courts have discouraged the victims of sexual harassment?. 

SOURCE: 

Review of public personnel administration strategy. 24(1), 41-69.

Key words: Do employers have a great chance in sexual harassment cases?

Summary:

EEOC defines sexual harassment as a form of unlawful sex discrimination that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment. EEOC guidelines state clear that the organization needs to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The role of the organization therefore to establish effective policies, policy implementation procedure training program and complaint processes, these will help and only give advantages for organizing to win the sexual harassment cases against employees. The court may side with the employee the company did not have an effective process for dealing with complaints. The courts have said that an employer may designate a specific person within the organization to receive, investigate and resolve complaints. The outcome of these cases suggests that the effective complaint process protects employers from liability and may discourage future incident of sexual harassment. Victims who fail to use the employers’ complaints process are unlikely to receive favorable decisions in the courts and they undermine one important strategy for ending this unprofessional behavior, e.g. Kimberly Ellerth did not formally report her harassment because of she feared retaliation. The courts rejected fear of retaliation as a reason for failing to use an organization’s complaint process.

Sexual harassment training is one of preventive measure e.g. The City of Boca Raton believed that sending employees a memorandum that includes the City’s policy was adequate training, however Faragher never saw the memorandum. In this case the employer was held to liable. The person who is responsible for handling complaints of sexual harassment should be impartial and should not be someone who generally serves as management’s advocates within the organization.

However few women serve on the bench and this seems to be disadvantageous for women judges in 15 of all the 18 cases 83.3% were male decision favored employers 75% of the cases two cases decided by female judges.

Methodology:

According to EEOC 15,475 charges of sexual harassment were filed in 2001, men failed only13. 7% charge. The number of cases resolved was 16,475. In almost 71% of cases resolved in 2001 case were closed because EEOC found reasonable cause in less to believe that discrimination occurred.

Reaction

I agree with the author recommendation that employer’s have a great advantage in sexual cases if they fulfill all the requirements as outlines by the EEOC and Title VII of the Civil Rights as mentioned above. BUT I disagreed with the author ‘s statement that ‘ women have a disadvantage in the courts because few women serves on the bench’ I think it is not necessarily true, courts are ruled by established laws, rules and procedures, and never gender of a judge will change anything. The important thing is for employees to follow the procedure of filing the complaints as outlined by the EEOC without fear of retaliation. Courts are the only place where justice is justifiable, no matter of personality. 

Reference:

Berman, E.M., Bowman, J.S., West, J., Wan Wart, M. (2006). Human resources management in public service (2^nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: sage.