Sexual Harassment Article
He Makes Me Feel Uncomfortable!

I have provided a sexual harassment article to help you understand what it is and how to identify and prevent it in your organization.

Can someone that just feels uncomfortable with an individual around claim they are being sexual harassed?

They may say that it is just the way they are looking at me. Or maybe they are glaring at them!

Several years ago I had a senior manager tell me that one of their employee was being sexually harassed by a member of a different department.

They told me that their employee was very uncomfortable with this individual around and that the employee felt as though they were being sexually harassed.

So what do you do if this type of claim has been dropped in your lap?

Well I did my investigation since I take every claim serious.

Here is what I discovered after speaking with all parties involved.

The person making the claim told me that when they mentioned that they were going on vacation to the male employee he told her that he would write her a letter while she was gone. She told him immediately that she was married and that wasn't ok. He told her that he was just joking and that he would never write her a letter because he knew she was married. She said that this was the only time he had ever mentioned anything like this to her. Prior to this he had always been professional.

I interviewed him and he confirmed that they did have that exact conversation, almost word for word. He did say that he meant nothing by it and that he would not speak with her again about anything like that. He did volunteer that he thought she was attractive but now that he knows she is not interested he will keep his distance.

The male employee comes to that area to deliver product that the female employee has to sign for.

So what do you think? Is this a form of sexual harassment?

If not - Why?

If it is - Why?

In my opinion it was not sexual harassment for the following reasons.

That nothing rude or sexual was stated by the male employee.

That the male employee did not pursue a relationship after he was denied his advance and has left her alone since.

That he was professional before this particular incident, which was not egregious by any reasonable standard.

Now we did caution the male employee of our sexual harassment policy and that should he continue to pursue the female employee it could be considered sexual harassment.

Although we were not required to we altered the male employee's routine so that he did not have to be in contact with the female in the future.

Everyone involved was issued a copy of our organizations sexual harassment policy and signed for it.

Having the policy is one of the most important things you can do to protect your company and your employees from sexual harassment.

Equally important is to make sure you conduct training on your policy with them at least annually.

This will go a long way to preventing it in your workplace.

Again check out the book “The Sexual Harassment Handbook.” What a good investment at less than $10.

Thanks again for reviewing these articles on sexual harassment.

One trip to an attorney's office pays for at least one or more copies of this useful tool!

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