Most Americans now know, through countless compelling stories in the media, that it is against the law to harass a person because of their gender. Individual case histories published across the country have reinforced the notion that harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.
Stories of how brave women fight back against bullying always capture the public imagination, and none more so today than that of Teresa Zerilli-Edelglass, a New Jersey woman who just published her personal narrative in a compelling new book, “Trown Under the Bus : The Rise and Fall of an American Worker” available through bookstores. This is the unique story of a nice young woman from humble social and economic roots who was just trying to pursue a career when she fell into a terrifying sequence of nightmarish episodes at work. What began as a humiliating demotion over her refusal to play with “the boys” quickly escalated into nearly 20 years of lawsuits and legal wrangling. It is a gripping page-turning story and perhaps some readers will see parallels in it with their own lives and take steps to deal with their own situations.
This book emphasizes that harassment does not have to be solely sexual in nature and can include offensive comments about a person’s sex. For example, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stresses that it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general. Both the victim and the harasser can be female or male, and the victim and harasser can be of the same sex. Although the law does not prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or results in an employment decision. adverse. (such as the victim being fired or demoted). The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor from another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or client. To avoid legal exposure and protect both subordinates and managers, employers should draft written policies that clearly explain what to do if workers believe they have been harassed.
With a formal, written policy, in the event that harassment does occur, companies are legally protected because they can prove that they took preventive measures to prevent or stop it. Written guidelines do not have to be complex, but should always include a designated person within the company to receive complaints that an employee is treated differently based on gender.
This is a problem that can be fixed. Everyone must do their part in the workplace to ensure that sexual harassment becomes a relic of the past.
