Thursday, February 25, 2016

How to Avoid Employer Liability for Sexual Harassment?

The words sexual harassment strikes panic at the hearts of employers everywhere. A significant number of leading industrial houses have faced this problem at some point of their existence. For the most part, employers dread the prospect of lengthy legal battles, EEOC investigations, and verdicts which can entail huge monetary awards sometimes because of political correctness and so on.

What are the elements that plaintiffs are required to prove?

In case a plaintiff alleges that a hostile work environment exists he/she will have to prove that:
  • The plaintiff belongs to a protected class
  • The plaintiff faced unwelcome sexual behaviors
  • The harassment was directed towards the plaintiff’s sex
  • The harassment caused a hostile work environment
  • The liability of the employer
Syracuse, NY sexual harassment lawyers reiterate that the provisions under Article VII not only aim to provide compensation to employees but are also designed to prevent workplace harassment. Employers can take certain steps also to protect themselves from liability. They must formulate, implement, and distribute anti-harassment policies among employees, and have a system in place to know about the issues in the workplace. This is done by conducting surveys or by arranging periodic meetings between management and staff.

Co-worker Harassment

When an employee acclaims a hostile work environment allegation the employer can become implicated if the employee is able to show that the employer knew about the harassment but did not act proactively to deter the harasser.

This is sort of like what was happening to Bubbles in The Wire in season 4 when he was getting beat down by the neighborhood thief. Bubbles complained to the police but this particular police officer was a thief and bully himself using the badge to get over on people. He did not care one iota about Bubble’s complaints and even stole some of Bubble’s products for himself. Now this is not sexual harassment related but the police officer in this scenario should have done something about this neighborhood thug. The fact that he did not could possibly open up a gap for a lawsuit.

If an employer says he had no knowledge of such acts, north central New York sexual harassment attorneys argue that the employer ‘should have known’ being at the helm of a company. In The Wire example, the police officer knew since Bubbles made a direct complaint.

The complaint against the employer comes in two parts. 1) The employer knew about the harassment, and 2) The employer failed to take constructive steps to stop the harassment. The employers however can protect themselves from the ‘should have known’ charge by implementing certain steps. These include conducting surveys on workplace environment and scheduling training programs where the employees are told what steps they can take to report any type of sexual harassment and discrimination.

In addition, meetings can be arranged where supervisors and employees can divulge their issues and concerns openly. If employers are able to show the jury that they took effective measures to prevent the untoward incident they can escape legal implications to an extent.

Supervisor Harassment

The legal situation is totally different if a supervisor is accused of sexual harassment. The plaintiff here will not have to prove liability as the employer is presumed liable in such a situation. Syracuse, NY sexual harassment lawyers assert that if employers study court verdicts over the past few years they will get a clear idea how they defend themselves against such allegations.

Employers can show evidence to prove that they had all the preventive mechanisms in place and they acted to stop the harassment at a timely fashion. Secondly, they can demonstrate that the plaintiff failed to take advantage of the mechanisms without any appropriate reason.


The courts have time and again shown how employers can evade liability. They must have an effective anti-harassment policy in place and also have a complaint system which is easy to use. The policy and disciplinary actions that will be taken for violating the laws must be made available to all the employees. When a complaint is received it is crucial to act promptly by investigating and punishing the guilty.

If you need help with a sexual harassment policy or face allegations of workplace sexual harassment you can always count on help from a sexual harassment lawyer in Syracuse, New York.

It does not matter if you are getting beaten up or sexually harassed, this is the site you can use: Sexual-Harassment-USAttorneys. Now Bubbles was homeless so gaining access to the Internet is not really practical and that is another matter. You have access to the net. You have a clear and present problem. Use that website to punish that person and possibly your employer for allowing this horrendous situation to envelop your life.

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