Is This Sexual Harassment?

A discussion of leadership unfortunately brings with it a discussion of when leadership fails. Robin Warshaw, writing in Exec magazine, presents several cases brought before public hearing examiners. Share these with your students and use them as a basis for discussing the definition and identification of sexual harassment and it’s relation to leadership and group processes.

Case 1: Several employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including supervisors, were having romantic affairs with one another. This included holding frequent parties and leaving the office during the day to go drinking. A female attorney who did not participate in these activities claimed that she was harassed by the environment in which she had to work, and additionally charged that women who had affairs with male supervisors were rewarded with promotions and bonuses. The woman admitted that no one had pressured her for sex, nor had she been denied any promotions because she didn’t participate in the activities of the others.

Ruling and Analysis: A judge ruled that although the woman was not harassed on a quid pro quo basis, the SEC office was nonetheless an offensive work environment. She was awarded back pay, a promotion, and her choice of two jobs. Although socializing at the office routinely takes place, the Carnival of the Senses set up in the SEC office went beyond the bounds of typical social interaction.

Case 2: A severe snowstorm sent workers at a Virginia corporation home early. A female word-processing technician needed a ride, and a male engineer (for whom she’d done some work) readily offered to take her in his four-wheel drive vehicle. When they arrived at her apartment the man entered with her and, according to him, only kissed her. The woman charged that he tried to kiss and fondle her, despite her protestations. She complained to her employer, who reprimanded the man and warned him that he would be fired if he did anything like that in the future.

Ruling and Analysis: Was this simply a case of a clumsy but mild-intentioned man looking for companionship? Doubtful. The woman’s attorneys demonstrated in court that the corporation had received similar complaints about similar behavior involving this man. The employer made an out-of-court settlement after the court ruled that the company had a legal responsibility to prevent such actions from happening. According to Louise Fitzgerald of the University of Illinois at Champaign, this type of predatory unwanted attention is common; 15% of working women in one of Fitzgerald’s research studies had been the object of unwanted kissing, grabbing, touching, or fondling.

Case 3: Obscene cartoons depicting a female coworker (by name) engaged in various sex acts were posted in the men’s room of her office building. These remained in the public bathroom for a week, even after the company’s chief executive had seen them. They were removed only after he learned that the woman was upset about the cartoons.

Ruling and Analysis: The court determined that the cartoons were "highly offensive" and an impediment to the woman’s dealing "with fellow employees and clients in a professional manner." The matter could have been helped had the cartoons been taken down immediately, but male allies of women are often rare in work settings. Men may feel they are breaking ranks or not being "one of the boys." This particular situation was made worse by the company’s chief executive’s ignorance and inaction. The employer paid the woman’s full salary and psychiatric bills until she found a new job.

Warshaw, R. (1993). Is this sexual harassment? Exec, Summer, 62-65.