Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC
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Author: Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC
Date: December 5, 2017
The Firm
201-896-4100 info@sh-law.comThe mounting sexual harassment claims against Harvey Weinstein have made sexual harassment front page news. As all employers should be aware, workplace harassment is not confined to the entertainment industry.
According to one study, one in three women between the ages of 18-34 has been sexually harassed at work. Of those who said they had experienced sexual harassment, only 30 percent reported it.
Other forms of workplace harassment are also prevalent, including racial and ethnicity-based harassment. In one study, researchers found that 70 percent of the workers surveyed suffered some form of verbal harassment, while 45 percent experienced exclusionary behaviors. The study also found that 69 percent of respondents reported witnessing at least one ethnically-harassing behavior in the past two years.
Harassment suits are among the most frequent sources of employment liability for New York and New Jersey businesses. Even when claims are unsuccessful, the cost of defending the suit and any public relations fallout can seriously impact a company’s bottom line.
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), it received more than 28,000 harassment claims from workers in 2016 alone, which represented one-third of the employment discrimination charges that agency received that year. Of those claims, harassment on the basis of sex or race was the most prevalent, followed by disability, age, national origin, and religion. Harassment is likely more prevalent than the EEOC statistics suggest. The agency itself acknowledges that many claims (90 percent) are unreported due to fear of retaliation, embarrassment, and other factors. Nonetheless, the agency still recovered $125.5 million on behalf of harassment victims from 2010-2016.
When it comes to sexual harassment, not all workplaces are equal. According to a 2016 report by the EEOC, there are several risk factors that make a company ripe for improper conduct. They include:
Of course, the above risk factors are not exhaustive, and the existence of any one risk factor does not necessarily mean that sexual harassment is occurring. However, they do provide a useful tool for assessing potential problem areas and taking proactive measures to reduce harassment in the workplace.
Do you have any questions? Would you like to discuss the matter further? If so, please contact me, Sean Dias, at 201-806-3364.
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