Failure To Keep Staff Up To Speed Creates
Liability
Sexual Harassment
Policy Refreshers Vital
by Steven John Fellman
NATO Washington Counsel
One of the most frequently litigated areas
of discrimination law involves the area of sexual harassment.
We have all seen newspaper reports of major companies being
sued in class actions by female employees alleging harassment.
In many instances, there have been multi-million dollar
damage awards made to the class of plaintiffs. All motion
picture theatre companies should have a well-documented
sexual harassment policy. The employee handbook given to
employees should include the details of the company’s
sexual harassment policy and employees should be educated
with regard to the policy as part of their initial employee
training process. Most companies follow such a practice.
The big concern is that in some companies,
once the employee goes through his initial training and
is provided with
a copy of the employee handbook, there is a failure to
periodically reemphasize the company’s commitment
to have a workplace free of sexual harassment. In a workplace
such as a motion picture theatre where young employees
are often exposed to R-rated pictures, some with steamy
sex scenes, there is a need to emphasize exactly what type
of conduct is acceptable in the workplace and what type
of conduct is not acceptable.
In a motion
picture theatre environment where many of the employees
are teens or young college students,
it is easy to fall into a culture where jokes, sexual
comments, rude remarks, and even playful “pats
on the butt” become
commonplace. Permitting this type of culture to exist
is extremely dangerous. |
Any unwelcome sexual advances, requests
for sexual favors or other verbal or physical conduct of
a sexual nature
is clearly sexual harassment when an employee must submit
to such conduct either directly or indirectly as a condition
of employment or an employee’s ability to get a better
job, or a raise is dependent on his willingness to submit
to the offensive conduct. This type of direct harassment
is often called “quid pro quo” harassment.
But what is more difficult to stamp out and probably much
more prevalent, is conduct that creates a hostile or offensive
working environment. A hostile environment could be created
by supervisors who compare a female employee’s figure
to that of a movie star appearing onscreen or depicted
on a one-sheet. Supervisors who comment to employees about
sexual scenes in movies also create the potential for a
charge of hostile environment. Lewd comments or jokes regarding
the content of a movie are another source of concern.
In every business, there is a culture within
the office. Culture is a hard thing to define, but you
don’t
have to spend much time in a workplace to figure out what
type of culture exists. You can walk into one business
and see that all the employees are dressed like “Ken” and “Barbie,” greet
everyone with a smile and a friendly good morning. You
can walk in the office next door and see that employees
are in ragged jeans and dirty T-shirts, have an ungroomed
appearance, and ignore you when you walk through the front
door. Your first impression of an office culture is often
accurate.
In a motion picture theatre environment
where many of the employees are teens or young college
students, it is easy
to fall into a culture where jokes, sexual comments, rude
remarks, and even playful “pats on the butt” become
commonplace. Permitting this type of culture to exist is
extremely dangerous. If such a culture exists in your theatres,
you are asking for trouble and you will get it. If a court
finds that your supervisors knew that this type of culture
existed, and supervisors participated in the conduct, management
will have an extremely difficult time defending itself
in a hostile environment case. Management needs to constantly
educate and reeducate staff, managers and supervisors with
regard to the company’s sexual harassment policy.
Not only should the policy be explained, but even more
important, the policy must be enforced. Employees who believe
that they have been exposed to sexual harassment must know
to whom they can submit complaints. They must feel comfortable
that the complaints will actually be investigated and that
action will be taken against other employees who are guilty
of engaging in sexual harassment. Sanctions imposed by
the employer must be meaningful. Depending upon the severity
of the offense, it may definitely be necessary to fire
employees who have engaged in harassment.
Take a look at your company’s sexual harassment policy.
When is the last time that you retrained employees to be
sensitive to hostile environment issues? What action had
you taken to enforce your policy? Do your employees know
how to file a complaint alleging sexual harassment? Sexual
harassment litigation is time consuming, expensive and
results in significant adverse publicity. A hostile work
environment is an environment that limits the productivity
of your workforce. Are you curious as to what actually
goes on in your facilities? There is an easy way to get
some basic information. Your employee handbook should specify
that the company has the right to access all employee e-mail
files. Assuming that your company has established this
policy, have an IT supervisor make a series of random checks
of manager and assistant manager e-mail files. If you find
widespread exchanges of off-color jokes, use of porno sites,
and exchanges of inappropriate material, you know that
you have a problem.
When is the last time that you updated your sexual harassment
policy? When is the last time you had company-wide sexual
harassment retraining? If you can’t answer these
questions, the time is now. 
