2011 Harassment And Discrimination Training

Glory (U.S.A.) Inc. Harassment, Sexual Harassment,

& Discrimination Training

May 2011

At the close of this session, you will be able to:• Define harassment• Explain the difference between illegal harassment and

certain behavior that is inappropriate / unprofessional (often referred to as harassment but not illegal)

• State the importance of preventing harassment in the workplace

• List the categories of harassment• Be aware of the laws that prohibit and provide protection

against harassment• Describe the Glory policy and procedures on harassment

Objectives

Why This Training is ImportantWhy is it important to prevent harassment in our workplace?

• Harassment harms us all. An important part of our corporate values is to ensure all employees are treated with respect and dignity. Engaging in, condoning, or not reporting harassment are in direct conflict with our values.

• Compliance with multiple laws, both federal and state

• The EEOC received a record 99,922 charges in their FY 2010, which ended Sept. 30 —the highest number of charges in the agency’s 45-year history. The agency secured more than $319 million in monetary benefits for individuals—the highest level of relief obtained through administrative enforcement in the Commission’s history Source: EEOC.gov officially released statistics at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/sexual_harassment.cfm

Laws Forming the Basis of Discrimination Claims

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination and practices because of a person’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

• Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 prohibits discrimination based on physical or mental impairment, and also requires employer’s reasonable accommodations for qualifying individuals with disabilities.

• Equal Pay Act of 1963 protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex based discrimination.

• Immigration Reform and Control Act 1986, 1990, 1996 establishes penalties for employers who knowingly hire unauthorized aliens; prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of national origin or citizenship against US citizens, US nationals, and certain aliens.

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects individuals who are 40 years and older against age discrimination.

Laws Forming the Basis of Discrimination Claims (continued – there’s that many!)

• NJ Law Against Discrimination (LAD) makes it unlawful to subject people to differential treatment based on race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, sex (including pregnancy), familial status, marital status, domestic partnership status, affectional or sexual orientation, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information, liability for military service, and mental or physical disability, perceived disability, and AIDS and HIV status.

• NJ Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“Whistleblower Act”) is New Jersey's whistleblower law. It is one of the broadest anti-retaliation laws in the country. It provides broad protection to employees who report illegal and unethical workplace activities. Its primary purposes are to encourage employees to report illegal and unethical workplace activities, and to discourage employers from engaging in illegal and unethical conduct.

• Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects service members' reemployment rights when returning from a period of service in the uniformed services, including those called up from the reserves or National Guard, and prohibits employer discrimination based on military service or obligation.

• Multiple State Laws will provide state-specific mandates, such as how and when to do sexual harassment training (CA) and “lifestyle discrimination” avoidance (9 states).

Harassment in the News

Despite companies and employees claiming to know the law, harassment still occurs

• Fortune 500 companies with vast resources are not immune to such litigation

• Employees and Management who went through training like this multiple times still found guilty of harassment

Harassment in the News

As recently as August 2010, The California Supreme Court unanimously agreed that stray remarks from colleagues may have been considered evidence of bias and ruled that a trial court erred in dismissing an age discrimination lawsuit against which industry giant?

Harassment in the News• The Internet’s most popular search

engine must now face charges from former manager Brian Reid who claims he was fired by Google for being too old. Reid was hired in 2002 as director of operations and engineering. Less than two years after being hired, Reid was told that he was not a good “cultural fit” and was fired.

• This ruling upheld an earlier state appeals court decision that the trial court had erred in dismissing the original Google age discrimination lawsuit. The California Supreme Court stated that remarks from Reid’s co-workers, including episodes of colleagues calling Reid “old man” and “old fuddy-duddy” could have been considered to be evidence of bias

Sexual Harassment in the News• 2011 - A former senior sales consultant who worked in for IBM in Melbourne

(Australia) has filed a $1.1 million lawsuit against the technology giant for sexual harassment, unlawful discrimination and bullying

• 2011 – 16 Yale students contacted the Dept of Education stating that Yale violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by ignoring complaints of a sexually harassing environment

• 2010 - Hewlett Packard CEO Mark Hurd stepped down in August following a sexual harassment investigation – a probe found he violated company standards and filed inaccurate expense reports to cover up his "close personal relationship" with a marketing consultant hired by his office

What is Harassment?• Unwelcome verbal or physical conduct based on a person’s

status in a protected class• Conduct that unreasonably interferes with an employee’s

work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment

• An occurrence where an employee’s status or benefits are directly affected by the harassing conduct of a manager or person of authority (for example, “Quid Pro Quo” in sexual harassment cases)

• Adverse employment actions (retaliation) against employees who complained of harassment or discrimination or who participate in a complaint procedure

Illegal Harassment vs. Inappropriate Conduct

• In the workplace and as used in this presentation, the term “harassment” refers to the illegal form of discrimination

• Employees often say they are being harassed, however, when they are subjected to inappropriate conduct or behavior which is not illegal but still unacceptable in the workplace

• The term frequently used to describe this type of behavior and conduct is workplace bullying:– Workplace bullying is repeated mistreatment of one or more

employees using humiliation, intimidation and denigration– Bullying behavior can exist at any level of an organization– Bullies can be superiors, subordinates, co-workers and colleagues

Examples of HarassmentRace/Color• Ethnic slurs or jokes, offensive or derogatory comments, or

other verbal or physical conduct based on an employee’s race/color constitutes harassment if that conduct creates a hostile or offensive work environment or results in an adverse employment decision.

Religion• Harassment based on religion occurs when an employee is

antagonized or ridiculed because of his religious beliefs. Another type of religious harassment occurs when a co-worker or supervisor “preaches” or proselytizes to an employee and the employee perceives that behavior to be unwanted and offensive, amounting to a hostile work environment.

Examples of Harassment (cont.)National Origin • Ridiculing because of birthplace, ancestry, culture or linguistic

characteristics common to a specific ethnic group. Disability• The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits

workplace discrimination on the basis of disability, past disability or being regarded as disabled. Harassment can be found when the conduct creates a hostile or offensive work environment or results in an adverse employment decision.

Sexual Orientation• In NJ and other states, subjecting someone to harassing

behavior because of their sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation is also illegal.

“What do you mean by…”

Harassing behavior can range from severe to subtle:– Any derogatory or slang word for a class of people– A man being told by an executive to be happy a female co-

worker is hitting on him, followed by rumors circulating that he’s gay when he denies her advances (EEOC v. Prospect Airport Services, 2010)

– Allowing only Christian décor in the workplace but not a Star of David

– “Of course he can’t work the new software. They didn’t even have computers when he started working!”

What is Sexual Harassment?

• Unwelcome sexual advances

• Requests for sexual favors

• Other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature or concerning a person’s sex that creates a hostile or offensive work environment or results in an adverse business decision

Forms of Sexual Harassment

Two forms of sexual harassment• Quid pro quo (Latin for “this for that” or

“something for something”)

• Hostile Work Environment

Quid Pro Quo

• Tangible employment action taken or threatened against the victim

• Involves adverse employment decision (e.g. monetary loss, change in job)

– Example: Mary Smith receives smaller pay increase based on performance than other employees with similar performance because she refused to go out with her supervisor, John Doe.

Hostile Work Environment

• Speech or conduct that is severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile or offensive work environment or result in an adverse employment decision– Example: The receptionist is always subjected to

requests for dates and crude jokes from the delivery driver

– Example 2: A sales representative is constantly touched by his customer, and told repeatedly “you know how you could close this deal…”

Hostile Work Environment

• In addition to speech and/or conduct, covers explicit or suggestive items displayed in the workplace that interfere with job performance or that creates a hostile or offensive work environment– Example: An employee has a calendar of semi-

nude females on her cubicle wall visible to passersby

Perception

In harassment cases, it is the victim’s perception that counts

• Intent is not a defense

• As long as a “reasonable person standard” is met, harassment is found (i.e. a reasonable person of the victim’s gender)

Who Can be Involved?

• Those who commit – employees at all levels, customers, vendors, members of the protected class, people being interviewed

• Those who are targeted – victims, unintentional victims (e.g. spouse belongs to protected class), bystanders, witnesses who are affected by the harassment

• The individuals can be of the same gender

Outcomes

It is important to report all harassment claims early so that fallout may be minimized. If behavior can be stopped, outcomes are often less severe:

• Formal communication and monitoring of future behavior

• Department Restructuring• Written Warning• Termination

How do I Report?

All perceived harassment is to be reported to the HR Manager for investigation and action • Who was involved?• What specifically was said or witnessed?• Who else may have witnessed?• Is this the first instance?

What is Retaliation?

Retaliation is defined as an adverse action taken against an employee because he/she complained of harassment or discrimination• Adverse action includes demotion,

discipline, termination, salary reduction, negative performance appraisal, change in job duties or shift assignment, or lost employment opportunity

What is Retaliation?

• Anti-discrimination laws prohibit employers from taking adverse action against employees for asserting their rights.

• When an employee complains of harassment to the company or to a government agency, the company must not take any action that the employee may view as punishment or retaliation for filing the complaint.

• Employees have lost a harassment claim but won a retaliation claim for the same incident.

Glory’s Policy

Glory (USA) takes any and all claims of harassment seriously.

The Employee Guide, which includes this policy, is signed off on by all employees.

Please take a provided copy of the policy with you at the close of this session.

Your Responsibilities

• Know and comply with our policy and procedures

• Immediately report any complaint that you receive from your employees or incidents that you witness to the Human Resources Manager

Summary

• Harassment and discrimination against some because they belong to a protected class is illegal and against Glory policy

• Harassment differs from inappropriate conduct, which is not illegal but also against Glory policy

• It is the victim’s perception that counts, so “innocent” remarks can become harassing

• All claims should be forwarded to the HR Manager• No employee shall be retaliated against because they

filed claim of harassment

Handouts

• Glory (USA) Policy• NJ Law Against Discrimination Posting from

the Department of Labor• NJ Conscientious Employee Protection Act

Posting from the Department of Labor• Employee Statement– Read, sign, and return to HR today

Questions & Answers

Thank You!