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7 SECRETS TO KEEPING YOUR COMPANY OUT OF COURT- HOW TO AVOID SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSUITS
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Recently, there has been a huge upsurge in the number of sexual harassment lawsuits. It all started with Anita Hill's televised testimony at the Clarence Thomas Senate Confirmation hearing to become a Supreme Court Justice in 1991. Then Paula Jones' lawsuit against President Clinton and several multimillion dollar verdicts have caused a wave of litigation. In 1998 the U.S. Supreme Court handed down two important decisions that put the ball in the employer's court in sexual harassment cases. Basically, they gave employers an "affirmative defense", provided that they have a policy that makes it clear that the company does not tolerate sexual harassment. This article will briefly summarize 7 secrets to keeping your company out of court.
#1 Have a Written Sexual Harassment Policy
All employers should have a written sexual harassment policy, which at a minimum provides: what sexual harassment is; sets forth a mechanism for reporting it; states that all complaints will be promptly and thoroughly investigated; that there will be no retaliation for making the complaint; and that if a violation is found, that prompt and effective remedial action will be taken.
#2 Communicate Your Sexual Harassment Policy to All of Your Employees
It does no good to merely have a sexual harassment policy that is sitting gathering dust in the Human Resources department or in an employee handbook, the policy must be communicated to all of your employees. It should be distributed to employees at the time of hire, explained to them, and have them sign acknowledging receipt and agreeing to abide by it. It should be posted on the wall and where appropriate, translated into Spanish. It should be discussed at employee meetings.
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