Sexual harassment is a hot topic in the media these days. Frankly, it’s hot in more than one sense. In the “hot potato” sense, in that no one really wants to touch it. But also in terms of these definitions of “hot” from Merriam-Webster: “of intense and immediate interest” and “marked by violence or fierceness.”

Trust me, I don’t want to be talking about sexual harassment myself. Mostly because I wish it didn’t happen.

I’m not here to give a personal story. I’m not a victim. But I do have experience dealing with claims of sexual harassment. This actually dates back to college, where I was not only involved in investigating student sexual harassment allegations, but also in training other students to investigate them. Fortunately, I guess, there weren’t that many investigations. But, on the other hand, what does that mean? Were there too many not coming forward?

Because I’m now an employment lawyer helping employers do the right things and protect themselves, I’m focusing on the workplace here. But, of course, sexual harassment, assault, and abuse also affects many other aspects of our lives.

Sexual Harassment: The Laws

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment because of sex (among other characteristics). Harassment is a form of discrimination. Thus, Title VII prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace.

Outside of the employment context, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sexual harassment (and other forms of sex discrimination) in educational programs and activities.

Most states also have employment discrimination laws that make sexual harassment unlawful.

Sexual assault is also illegal, of course. It can be both a criminal offense and a civil one (a tort). Beyond employment discrimination laws, employers could, in some cases, be held legally culpable for enabling, permitting, tolerating, etc., sexual assault.

Read here for more on What Makes Workplace Harassment Unlawful?

More Than a Legal Problem

The recent media attention on sexual harassment and assault identifies some high profile perpetrators. They may be celebrities. They may be wealthy. Regardless, they usually have jobs (or run their own businesses).

Sexual harassment and assault are wrong in themselves and in a million ways. But let’s just consider the employment context. What are some negative impacts?

Let’s face it, sexual harassment isn’t good for morale. Even unintentional, relatively minor instances (I’m not trying to define them here) can permeated the workplace. They may only upset one employee. Or one employee can tell another, and people get uncomfortable. An otherwise respected boss or co-worker falls out of favor (probably rightly so, though some are occasionally falsely accused).

Unfortunately, not all cases of sexual harassment are reported to human resources or others in the organization that could hopefully do something about it. But the ones that are demand action. That requires resources (time, money, etc.) that companies would rather be able to spend elsewhere. We can’t blame this on the victims. The blame is on those behaving inappropriately. But, nonetheless, we can all agree it would be better if there were no harassment to be investigated in the first place.

What’s the Fix?

Sexual harassment is wrong, and it’s bad. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to cure. But it also doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

Briefly, here are some basic elements every employer should implement:

• Anti-harassment policy
• Training all employees
• Additional training for supervisors
• Effective complaint procedures
• Designated compliance officers
• Prompt investigations
• Effective remedial action

Additional steps may be appropriate for some employers. These could include, for example, conducting workplace satisfaction surveys, expanding the human resources team, and other initiatives to promote pervasive professionalism.

Don’t Ignore It

I hope the recent public disclosures and related dialogue about this subject will help reduce sexual harassment. But no one should assume it can’t happen to them or in their organization.

Employers and their management teams must take the lead to put out any flames before they spread. The financial motivation itself is real. Some legal settlements have recently been reported to reach the range of $32 million to a single victim. Most employers would not survive that loss, or even anything close. The public relations backlash could be even worse.

But, most important, people must live with themselves and sleep at night. That alone is reason enough not tolerate harassment on our watch.