Copyright © 1998, Nanette Miner
Permission is granted to reproduce or excerpt this article if proper credit is given in this format:
Reprinted/excerpted with permission. The Training Doctor. Author: Nanette Miner. www.trainingdr.com

Sexual Harassment Claims are not a Manager’s Responsibility

In the last decade, nearly the entire country has panicked over the sexual harassment issue. The accusation of harassment can be made by anyone at any time in virtually any type of situation (remember the six year old boy who was accused of harassment for pecking a playmate on the playground during recess?).

The courts have ruled that an organization - and by extension the manager - is responsible for handling sexual harassment claims and investigations. This is a difficult and unfair position in which to put a manager. The state of Connecticut - where I am located - requires that managers go through a two-hour training program that instructs them in the delicate nature of sexual harassment issues and appropriate responses. Two-hours of training barely addresses the tip of the iceberg. Anyone who has been a witness to sexual harassment or a sexual harassment claim, knows that the issue is highly emotional and highly volatile. The courts have added to this personal volatility a great institutional responsibility and have further said that the manager is the first line of defense in deciding whether or not the organization will be held at fault.

Let’s say I am the manager of a telemarketing department. I spend my day scheduling, overseeing workers, putting out fires, communicating with upper management, coordinating with other departments, and doing a myriad of other things. I know what to do with the computers go down; I know what to do when the abandon rate goes up; I do not know what to do when someone makes goo-googly eyes across the room. But the law says not only must I figure out what to do, I must do it correctly or the whole organization could come crumbling down because of my actions.

Here’s a quick primer;

• An organization is liable if it knew or should have known about harassment and did nothing about it.
• An organization is liable if they are made aware of the situation and do nothing to address it.
• An organization is liable if they are made aware of the situation and handle it ineptly.

In each of these cases, the organization is represented by the manager of the individuals involved in the claim. I’m not speaking of Quid Pro Quo harassment -- in Quid Pro Quo harassment the manager or supervisor or someone in a position of authority is doing the harassing -- in that case, yes, the manager (read harasser) should be responsible. What I’m speaking of is the Hostile Work Environment, where two workers are involved in a situation and the manager of the department is charged with investigating whether the accusation is true and containing it in a fair, ethical, legally defensible manner.

If that much liability is on the line, then the organization itself should take responsibility for the investigation and addressing the issue. The human resources department or the employee relations department should be the responsible entity for investigations and disciplinary actions when necessary. A departmental manager has neither the skill, nor the training, nor, frankly, the inclination to be responsible for such a highly volatile issue. Because any delay in action can be interpreted as inaction, when a charge of sexual harassment is brought to the attention of the manager he or she must drop everything else and focus his/her full attention on investigating and resolving the situation. That is not what a manager is hired to do. It is a supremely unfair burden that the court systems have placed upon managers in America.