12.31.08
Posted in Contact Us at 2:14 am by normarae2008
This blog site is less than one month old. So far we’ve helped a few victims of sexual harassment who have written to my e-mail address – normarae2008@gmail.com, – and we’re getting a growing number of hits to the site. We’re a new site and we have a lot of work to do to add new features and bells and whistles, but our true passion is in connecting victims of sexual harassment with resources and answers to improve their lives.
I’ve added a couple of new articles – one is about the importance of good documentation if you’ve been harassed at work, and the second is the first in a series about sexual harassment at work. I hope you’ll find these articles interesting and helpful. The other day, someone referred to me as a social activist. I don’t believe I have earned that title, but I do know that I am passionate about connecting with women who have been harassed at work and are not sure where to begin to help themselves. I helped one woman get prepared for a meeting with her HR department. Perhaps your needs are different. But my services are free, and I’m here to listen to your story and find out how together we can turn your confusion, or anger, or negative feelings into positive action, and by doing so, make your life a little bit better.
If you found our webpage, stay a while. If you have something to share, you are most welcome. If you or someone you know has been harassed at work, and would like to help us get this simple website moving, we’d love your support and ideas. We’re here for all women who have been the victims of harassment. These pages are yours, and we’ll take them anywhere you wish to see them travel. Though at times I may find myself interesting, I bet it’s far more interesting listening to you.
So do something for yourself, or your friend, or your sister. Write to us. Tell us what you want to read more about. We’ll research any topics of your choosing. We’ll answer your calls for help.
We’ll do whatever we can to make 2009 a good year.
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Posted in Resources at 1:49 am by normarae2008
If you think you’ve been harassed, start preparing your records and documentation. Even if you decide not to file a complaint, you need to document every incident while your memory is fresh. You never know what the future may bring, so take the time to start a notebook or journal and include every detail you can recall. Your records should include the following:
A detailed account of each incident that occurred. Include the name(s) of the individual(s) involved, location, date and time of the incidents, and list any potential witnesses.
Provide details covering exactly what occurred. Do not summarize. It’s important that you allow your memory to take you back through each incident and relive the experience, no matter how difficult it may be, in order to capture exactly what happened. Describe what you were wearing, along with the harasser(s) and any other witnesses as best as you can recall. Also, describe the location in as much detail as possible.
Capture the statements made during the incident(s). What was said to you? Who said it? What tone was used? Was foul or offensive language used? Write it down. Describe the statements to the fullest extent of your ability to remember.
Was unwanted touching involved? Describe it. I know this is painful to recall, but if you file a complaint you’ll need to walk a third party through your story, and you need to be prepared. The more time you dedicate to thorough documentation, the easier it will be to present your experience. And the more prepared you are, the more credible you may be as a direct witness.
After you’ve written down any and all incidents of harassment in minute detail, gather your performance reviews dating back at least 2-3 years. Also, if you have copies of any commendations for a job well-done on any special projects or events make copies of those as well. Secure promotion or merit increase data going back 2-3 years as well.
If you’ve made any complaints about any individuals and/or your superiors make a record of those complaints.
If you have any e-mails, memos, or voice mails from the alleged harassers or other written communications that support your harassment complaint make copies immediately and place them with these other documents in a confidential and secure location, preferably at home. Do not keep these confidential records at your workplace.
If for any reason you feel the need to see a therapist or doctor regarding the alleged harassment maintain copies of your medical records and any medical bills you were required to pay for those services.
To support your privacy and confidentiality, it is strongly advised that you do not discuss or disclose your complaint with any coworkers other than the Human Resources department or other Grievance Organization in your company. These types of complaints create a life of their own in the rumor mill and you can become the subject of rumors that can be highly destructive. For your sake, you are encouraged to keep this problem close to your vest until you can properly file a complaint using Company procedures.
If you have further questions on Record Keeping and preparing your documentation, please write to me at Normarae2008@gmail.com, or leave a post on this blog.
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12.18.08
Posted in Contact Us at 6:43 pm by normarae2008
If you’d like to contact me, please write a comment or email me at normarae2008@gmail.com. I’m not a lawyer so I’m not authorized to give legal advice, but I do have over 20 years in Human Resources management, so I will be providing a lot of resources and referral information in this blog. I’m also hoping to encourage a lot of women to share their stories and talk to each other with the goal of learning how to gain strength from their experiences. This site is only a few days old, but over time we should gain reader attention and more information to share. Each day new information will be posted, so stay with us.
I will help any reader, in any city, find the resources she needs to deal with her situation. We’ve already helped a few women who’ve been hurt by workplace harassment. You don’t have to fight this alone. Turn your negative energy into productive solutions. I’m here to help you find the resources to get control of your life.
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Posted in Resources at 6:32 pm by normarae2008
I want to share a recent inquiry I received from a reader without violating her rights to privacy and anonymity. I’ll try to briefly review some of her story’s headlines while protecting her confidentiality, because I think her story is replicated in many offices around the country each year.
In essence, she suffered unwelcome sexual “touching” by a co-worker while working. She asked him to stop. Later she had to travel to another part of her office building with the offending employee and asked that a third employee travel with them, as she did not want to be alone with the harasser. She mentioned the unfortunate incident to the third individual.
Before our reader had a chance to take any sort of action on her own, the third individual reported the incident to the reader’s Department Manager, who in turn made arrangements to report the entire incident to Human Resources. Our reader wrote to me and asked what her rights were, as she wanted to talk with the original harasser independently and handle the situation on her own.
My comments: First of all, I’m not a lawyer, but I have over 20 years of HR experience. I suggested to the reader that she work with her department manager and the HR department to resolve the matter together. I also told her that once her management and HR are notified of an alleged sexual harassment incident, they are obligated by law and by company policy to act quickly to respond to and investigate the complaint. It’s important that she fully cooperate with their investigation, but she can also notify them that she’d like to play a role in meeting with the alleged harasser to explain her disappointment in his actions and that she’d like him to discontinue such actions in the future. The EEOC encourages victims to take those steps when such actions are at all possible without further complicating the matter.
Secondly, it’s important that victims of alleged harassment keep such incidents confidential. Disclosing such incidents to co-workers runs the high risk of being shared with other workers, and soon you lose control of the confidentiality factor completely. My best advise is to keep these matters quiet. Discuss them only with your management and Human Resources — this is for your own protection.
My last e-mail from the reader was quite positive — she was going to meet with her HR department and express her desires on how she’d like to work closely with them to resolve this case. Hopefully things will go well. I will report back on her progress and how this case resolves.
For further reading consult eeoc.gov/
Normarae
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12.10.08
Posted in Definition of Sexual Harassment at 10:49 pm by normarae2008
The statutory basis for the prohibition against sexual harassment is Title VII, which prohibits employers from hiring, firing, or otherwise discriminating in terms and conditions of employment on the basis of an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Sexual harassment claims are divided into two categories: quid pro quo and hostile workplace environment. Quid pro quo harassment occurs when an employer or supervisor takes tangible employment action against an employee because of the employee’s unwillingness to provide sexual favors. The more controversial hostile workplace environment claims were initially recognized by the Supreme Court in Meritor Savings Bank, SFB v. Vinson (1986). In that case, the Supreme Court interpreted an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulation, 29 CFR 1604.11(a) (1985), which defined sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.” The court ruled that to be actionable, the harassment must be severe enough to alter the employee’s conditions of employment, creating what has become known as a “hostile environment.”
Subsequently, in Teresa Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. (1994), the Court clarified the previous ruling by explaining that the existence of a hostile environment can be determined “only by looking at all the circumstances, including the frequency of the discriminatory conduct; its severity; whether it is physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere offensive utterance; and whether it unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work performance” (p. 369).
One issue that initially caused confusion was whether an employer could be held liable for sexual harassment by a supervisor when the employee suffered no tangible economic loss. In companion decisions in Ellerth v. Burlington and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998), the high court ruled that an employer is subject to vicarious liability to a victimized employee for an actionable hostile environment created by a supervisor with immediate (or successively higher) authority over the employee. However, when no tangible employment action is taken, a defending employer may raise an affirmative defense to liability by showing that (a) the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior and (b) the plaintiff employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventative or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to avoid harm otherwise. No affirmative defense is available, however, when the supervisor’s harassment culminates in a tangible employment action.
One final controversial matter the Supreme Court had to resolve was whether one could sexually harass someone of the same sex. Initially, same‐sex harassment was not considered sexual harassment, but, in the case of Joseph Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Service (1998), the Supreme Court broadened the interpretation of the law and held that nothing in the act bars a cause simply because the plaintiff and defendant are members of the same sex. The critical issue, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, was “whether members of one sex are exposed to disadvantageous terms or conditions of employment to which members of the other sex are not exposed” (p. 78).
Referenced by Nancy K. Kubasek of Answers.com
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Posted in This Month's Major Topics at 9:51 pm by normarae2008
How do I know if I’ve been sexually harassed? Maybe it was just sexual innuendos.
What Is sexual harassment? Definitions, examples.
What is the EEOC and how do I contact them? How can they help me? How do I file a claim of harassment?
You just lost your job after filing a sexual harassment complaint. Now what should you do?
What is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act? How does it affect sexual harassment laws in 2008?
How to maintain confidentiality and manage proper record keeping of your experience.
How to prepare for that first meeting with your company’s Human Resource department (or other grievance mechanism).
Resources and Referrals, and the latest EEOC headlines and case law updates pertinent to this topic.
We’ll cover all of these issues in my website/blog during the month of December so keep coming back. And tell your friends and colleagues to link up with us as well.
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Posted in Civil Rights Act and Title VII at 9:37 pm by normarae2008
Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the cornerstone of today’s anti-harassment laws. Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, and national origin. It also prohibits discrimination against an individual who associates with another individual of a particular race, color, sex, religion, or national origin.
Title VII established the EEOC, and gave the commission the authority to investigate, mediate, and ultimately file lawsuits on behalf of employees if it believes the case warrants such action. Title VII also provides that individuals can bring lawsuits against employers. Complaints, however, must be filed with the EEOC within 180 days from the date of the incident.
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Posted in Government Resource - EEOC at 9:32 pm by normarae2008
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.
The victim as well as the harasser may be a man or a woman. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
The victim does not have to be the person harassed, but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.
It is helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should try to use an employee grievance or complaint mechanism if available.
When investigating an allegation of sexual harassment, the EEOC will look at the whole record: the nature of the sexual advances, and the context under which the alleged incidents occurred, before a determination on the allegations from the facts are made.
Prevention is always the best tool to eliminate workplace sexual harassment.
This information was referenced from the EEOC. For more detailed information go to eeoc.gov/
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Posted in Definition of Sexual Harassment at 9:25 pm by normarae2008
Sexual harassment generally falls into two categories: “quid pro quo” or “hostile work environment.” It’s important we all have the same understanding of these categories as we begin using this page.
Quid pro quo harassment occurs when submission to, or rejection of conduct constituting sexual harassment is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting an employee. This is usually a demand for sexual favors in exchange for a promotion, or a raise, etc.
A hostile work environment is brought on by sexual harassment that affects or interferes with an employee’s performance and creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. If a harasser intends to create a hostile environment, it’s a direct violation of Title VII. But conduct that creates an intimidating environment or hostile workplace can still be a violation of Title VII even if the alleged harasser did not mean to create such harassment. As an example, sometimes jokes or innuendos are allowed in the workplace and can cause harm, but no one intended for harassment to occur.
Hostile work environments can be created by management, co-workers, and even vendors or customers. It’s important that companies establish firm anti-harassment policies and enforce them to prevent violation of workplace harassment laws.
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