Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Part 1

Main Ideas

1. Sexual Harassment Is Prohibited Discrimination

The training defines sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination prohibited by applicable federal, state, and local laws. It can involve unwelcome conduct that is sexual in nature or directed at someone because of their sex. The conduct may be unlawful when it:

• Unreasonably interferes with someone’s work or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment;
• Is made an explicit or implicit condition of employment; or
• Is used as the basis for an employment decision.

Harassment can occur even when the person reporting it was not the intended target. The protections described include harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, perceived sex, and transgender status.

2. Two Main Forms of Sexual Harassment

• Hostile work environment: Can arise from unwanted words, signs, jokes, pranks, intimidation, physical conduct, or violence. Examples include displaying sexually demeaning or pornographic material; sexual remarks, gestures, or noises; unwanted touching; assault; bullying or name-calling; and sabotaging or interfering with someone’s work or equipment. Displays shared on workplace computers, phones, or other devices are included.
• Quid pro quo: Occurs when someone with authority offers or tries to exchange job benefits for sexual favors, or threatens adverse consequences if those favors are refused. Examples include offering better conditions or opportunities, threatening demotion or a shift or location change, denying opportunities, pressuring or forcing a sexual relationship, or retaliating for refusing one.

3. Harassment Can Affect Many People and Happen in Many Settings

The training says harassment may occur between people of any sex or gender. New York law protects employees, paid and unpaid interns, independent contractors, and certain other non-employees working in the workplace. A harasser could be a colleague, supervisor, manager, or third party such as a customer, vendor, visitor, or security worker.

Work-related settings can include off-site assignments, employer-sponsored events, conferences, parties, work travel, and interactions outside normal work hours. Harassing calls, texts, emails, and social-media activity can also affect the workplace.

Sex stereotyping—harassing someone for not matching ideas about how a person of a particular sex should look or behave—is also described as sexual harassment.

4. Retaliation Is Prohibited

Employees are protected from retaliation for activities such as reporting suspected harassment, making a complaint, opposing discrimination, helping another employee, participating in an investigation, or testifying in a proceeding.

Retaliation may include a demotion, harmful schedule or location change, or other action that could discourage a reasonable person from reporting. It does not have to occur at work or during employment; the training gives an unwarranted negative reference as an example.

However, a negative employment action is not automatically retaliation just because it follows a protected activity: employees remain subject to ordinary job requirements and disciplinary rules.

5. Everyone Should Report Concerns; Managers Have Added Duties

Employees are encouraged to report inappropriate behavior to a supervisor, manager, or the person designated by their employer. Conduct may violate workplace policy even if it does not meet the legal definition of harassment. Reports can be written or verbal, and employees should follow their employer’s policy and use its complaint form if they are comfortable doing so.

Witnesses are also encouraged to report potential harassment. People who report or experience harassment should cooperate with management’s investigation. If a complaint receives an inappropriate response, such as being told to ignore it, the employee may raise it through the next level in the employer’s policy. If someone is unsure about making a complaint immediately, the training recommends documenting the incident while it is fresh.

Supervisors and managers are held to a higher standard. They must report harassment they observe or learn about, even if the affected person does not object or asks that it not be reported. Failing to report suspected harassment, knowingly allowing it to continue, or retaliating can result in discipline.

6. Employers Must Investigate and Take Corrective Action

The training says employers should promptly investigate all reports, whether they are made verbally or in writing, and complete investigations as soon as possible. The process may include:

• Reviewing the allegations and taking appropriate interim steps;
• Requesting and preserving relevant documents, emails, or phone records;
• Interviewing the people involved and any witnesses;
• Documenting the investigation according to the employer’s policy; and
• Notifying the complainant and the accused of the final determination and appropriate administrative action.

Investigations should be kept confidential to the extent possible. Employees may be required to cooperate, and retaliation against investigation participants is prohibited. Employers must take appropriate steps to prevent harassment from recurring. Harassment or retaliation may lead to remedial or disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

7. External Options and Other Forms of Workplace Harassment

The training identifies possible routes outside the employer:

• A complaint under the New York State Human Rights Law may be filed with the New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR) or in New York State Supreme Court. It states that DHR complaints may be filed within one year of the alleged harassment and that a person may sue directly in state court within three years. A person who has already filed a Human Rights Law complaint in state court may not also file with DHR.
• The training also refers to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and says a complaint must be filed with the EEOC before bringing a federal-court case. The subtitle’s associated web address is garbled.
• If harassment involves conduct such as physical touching, coerced confinement, or coerced sex acts, the training says it may constitute a crime and advises contacting local police.

The training notes that workplace harassment and discrimination may also be based on other protected characteristics, including age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, disability, marital status, domestic-violence-victim status, gender identity, and criminal history.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Roberta Reardon — New York State Labor Commissioner and the training’s presenter and narrator.
• New York State sexual harassment prevention training — The official training content presented in the video.
• Agencies and resources referenced, not speaking in the video: New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR), the EEOC, local police departments, and employers’ sexual-harassment-prevention policies.