Achieving Zero Tolerance of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Employers deal with complicated and difficult HR issues regularly. Although the allegations regarding Harvey Weinstein and the advent of the #MeToo movement have raised attention about the issue of sexual harassment, reporting is limited in providing practical guidance for employers seeking information to help their organizations. In this video, PLDO Principal William E. O’Gara describes some of the obstacles facing employers when it comes to sexual harassment and offers considerations to help solve these workplace issues. He explains that the legal standard for sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, which is a subset of sexual harassment, is whether or not the work environment is something where an employee is confronted with an abusive, hostile environment that he or she did not invite. For employers, he says, the key is making sure that everyone in the organization from frontline supervisors to the lowest level employee understands that it’s a zero-tolerance policy and that the employer is going to maintain a work environment in every operation, in every corner of the business, that the employer can stand behind and it can defend without being apologetic. For more information, call Attorney O’Gara, who leads the firm’s Employment Law and Litigation Teams, at 401-824-5100.