Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace for Illinois Professionals, 2nd Edition _ _________________
Disclosure Statement It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distrib- uting or providing access to this activity to learners. HOW TO RECEIVE CREDIT • Read the entire course online or in print. • Complete a mandatory test (a passing score of 80 percent is required). Test questions link content to learning objectives as a method to enhance individualized learning and material retention. Provide required personal information and payment information. • Complete the mandatory Course Evaluation. INTRODUCTION Anyone can be sexually harassed regardless of sex, gender identification, or age. Both men and women can be targets of sexual harassment, and it can be peer against peer, supervisor against employee, and even subordinates against supervisor (Enright, 2020). Data on the lifetime prevalence of sexual harassment vary, likely due to variances in reporting and how individuals define harassment in their life. Stop Street Harassment’s nationally representative 2018 online survey indicated that 81% of women and 42% of men over the age of 18 reported experienc- ing sexual harassment in the workplace sometime during their lifetime (Raj et al., 2021). According to a Marketplace-Edison Research Poll, those in the south (25%) were the most likely to have experienced sexual harassment at work. The northeast was the next highest at 21%, and the west and Midwest were the lowest at 18% and 17%, respectively (Edison Research, 2018). Between fiscal years (FY) 2018 and 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 98,411 allegations charging harassment in the workplace. Of these, 27,291 (35.4%) alleged sexual harassment. Women filed 62.2% of these harassment charges and 78.2% of all sexual harassment charges FY 2018–2021. Of note, in the two years following the #MeToo movement going viral (October 2017), the number of sexual harassment charges received by the EEOC temporarily increased from 6,696 (FY 2017) to 7,609 (FY 2018) and 7,514 (FY 2019) only to then decrease in both FY 2020 (6,587) and FY 2021 (5,581), below pre-#MeToo num- bers (Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics [OEDA], 2022). This basic-level course will help Illinois Healthcare profession- als identify sexual harassment in the workplace, prevent it, and take appropriate action if it occurs.
CASE STUDY 1 Jason is a newly promoted director of behavioral health. He worked hard for this promotion and is eager to fulfill his responsibilities as part of the management team. Jason currently serves on an interdisciplinary task force. The organization’s chief executive officer (CEO) frequently attends these task force meetings. After one of these meetings, the CEO stops Jason and asks that he make an appointment to discuss Jason’s ideas. Jason is flattered and makes the appointment with Mark Williams, the CEO. When Jason arrives, Mark encourages him to sit down next to him on the couch in his office. Pictures of Mark’s wife and three children are displayed prominently around the office. As Jason begins to explain his ideas, Mark nods and places his hand on Jason’s upper thigh. Mark smiles and says, “You know, Jason, I really admire you. You have a great work ethic and innovative ideas. I am in a position to help you advance in your career. I think we could become good friends and enjoy ourselves outside of the workplace as well. Our friendship could benefit both of us, and no one ever needs to know.” Jason is horrified. “What do I do?” he thinks. “This guy is a married man with kids who is propositioning me! He could really mess up my career. What do I do? Whom do I tell? Would anyone believe me?” CASE STUDY 2 Carolyn is a lead case manager in a busy outpatient clinic. During monthly staff meetings, William, another case manager, makes it a point to sit next to Carolyn. He enjoys sharing pictures of pornography and jokes that contain numerous sexual innuendos with her. Carolyn has firmly told him that these behaviors offend her, and she insists that he stop. William laughs and tells her she is a prude and needs to lighten up. “I’ve shown this stuff to most women in this clinic, and you’re the only one that can’t take a joke,” he says. Carolyn doesn’t care what other people do or do not do. As soon as the meeting concludes, she marches to the human resources office to file a sexual harassment complaint per organizational policy. CASE STUDY 3 Dana is a newly licensed social worker. She is a bit intimidated by her colleagues, who have worked at her clinic for at least several years. Martin is a clinical social worker with 20 years of experience. Although he provides excellent patient care, he has a reputation for being arro- gant and a bit of a bully with younger colleagues. His behavior has been tolerated over the years because of his excellent clinical skills. One afternoon Dana is in the utility room gathering supplies. Martin follows her into the room and shuts the door firmly behind him. He blocks her exit from the utility room. “You know Dana, you’re new here—young and inexperienced. I could help you out and help you get ahead in this place. I have connections. I’ve worked here forever. I can stop other people from giving you a hard time. All you have to do is to be nice to me.” Martin then grabs Dana with both arms and forcibly kisses her on the lips. Dana breaks free and slaps William across the face. The behavioral health manager enters the utility room and witnesses the slap. Martin immediately shouts, “She assaulted me! I’m going to file charges and get her fired!” Dana immediately begins to shout her own accusations. The manager has Dana and Martin accompany her to the human resources department. The manager is following hospital protocol to seek human resources mediation for these types of conflicts.
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