Principles of Responsible Commerce: Group 5
October 2010
Assessment 3: Case Study Report
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace – David Jones and Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Kristy van Duin, Li Yutao, Pablo Arenas, Jace Burgess
Executive Summary
The following report looks at the increase of Sexual Harassment claims within Corporate Australia that have been lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission over the last decade. David Jones Pty Ltd and Pricewaterhouse Cooper are two prevalent cases which have attracted negative media with regard to Sexual Harassment, and this report utilises both Risk Management and Egoism Theories to scrutinise various impacts, responsibilities and recommendations for Individuals, Organisations and
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Corporate Australia requires immediate attention to stem the steady increase of sexual harassment. Alexander and Lewer (1998) state there is “significant interaction between industrial relations practices and the economy” demonstrating linkages between individuals, organisations and society that must be addressed.
Impact on Individuals, Organisations and Society
Individuals - the key impact is often emotional. A victim or sexual harassment may lose the ability to attain premium quality of life, when compared to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as described by Turner (1995): * Physiological – increased stress levels, mental health, decreased sense of self worth, as well as creating many other health issues. * Safety – Career focus can be destroyed, income reduced through absenteeism or loss of employment, affecting the level of security one may have. * Belonging – feelings of violation and isolation and decreased sense of value. This view is noted by Weisberg (1996, pg 725) quoting Lin Farley “the abuse also impacts destructively [by] disrupting female job attachment, promoting female unemployment and inhibiting female solidarity.” * Esteem – as a result of a lack of belonging and lack of reliable income, the self worth and the value placed by colleagues and employer is decreased. Lengthy legal battles impact on an individual’s financial stability whilst media scrutiny impacts on individual esteem and adds
The consequences could result in health issues, job issues, family issues, or just overall every day environmental, social, or psychological issues.
Providing training about harassment has proven beneficial to the business environment. As the former EEOC Chairman stated “Sex harassment has developed as one of the great lessons in how education can have an effect on an offensive practice.” There are education campaigns educating not only employees but employers about what harassment entails, how to prevent it, and how to deal with a claim. (Glazer, 1996) In fact, most
Harassment has plagued the world for centuries. Why should the workplace be any different? Sexual harassment and workplace violence are not only of historical roots, but contemporary issues are still present in the workforce today. Managers are addressing and combating modern sexual harassment and workplace violence, however instances still occur (Robbins, Decenzo & Coulter, 2011).
In corporate America, sexual harassment is a huge concern amongst many organizations. The matter of sexual harassment is an issue that needs to be immediately attended to in
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Mitsubishi Motors in April of 1996 in regard to claims of widespread sexual harassment at the company’s plan in Normal, Illinois. “The lawsuit contends that as many as 700 women were subjected to groping and sexual remarks, creating a "hostile and abusive work environment" that went unchecked for years at the Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America plant” (“U.S. Charges,” 1996). It is despicable that situation like this was allowed to happen and perhaps even more astonishing is the magnitude at which it took place. While most of the harassment “came from male assembly line workers or low-level managers,” high-level managers at plant knew of the offenses and allowed them to take place without consequences (“U.S. Charges,”
Harassment, specifically sexual harassment, is one of those challenges faced by businesses and employers as of a result of workplace diversification. Inappropriate conversations, unwanted advances and uncomfortable physical contact are some of the ways sexual harassment can occur. According to Hellriegel and Slocum, “Sexual harassment refers to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.” (p.52). To be clear, sexual harassment can, and has, affected both women and men over the years however up to half of all working women have reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment in the career (Vijayasiri, 2008, p.1). It wasn’t until 1986 though that the Supreme Court recognized sexual harassment as a violation of Title VII in the case of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (O’Brien, 1994, p. 1). Before the high court’s ruling, however, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had begun to address the issue by drafting hostile work environment guidelines that included sexual harassment (O’Brien, 1994, p. 4). These guidelines would serve later to guide the high court’s decision. There are many more cases like this one we could look at. In 1991, sexual harassment became a household term as Anita Hill testified before congress stating she was sexually
Recently, a number of researchers have included sexual harassment behaviours in their definitions of workplace violence and aggression.
Sexual harassment is a demeaning practice, one that constitutes a profound affront to the dignity of the employees forced to endure it. By requiring an employee to contend with unwelcome sexual actions or explicit sexual demands, sexual harassment in the workplace attacks the dignity and self-respect of the victim both as an employee and as a human being. Sexual harassment is well defined as an unwelcome sexual request for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. In many countries, sexual harassment is considered a form of sexual abuse and employment discrimination. Sexual harassment is most prevalent is organizations both professional and academic, though it can occur almost anywhere.
Injustices in this world infect people's lives like diseases. One in particular has not only developed over the years, but cases spring up in the most unthought of places. This injustice commonly known as sexual harassment affects women, children, and occasionally men all across the globe. There are many aspects when it comes to sexual harassment including its background, opposing viewpoints on the popular belief, the popular viewing, sexual harassment in today's society, solutions to the problem, and what the future would be like without this injustice on the world's hands.
Work place policies regarding sexual harassment is the main issue discussed in this article. Sexual harassment has continued to be a challenge within the workplace. According to a recent review of sexual harassment related resolutions, employers have paid over $732,976.00 in sexual harassment fines (Hobson, Szostek, & Fitzgerald, 2015). The EEOC has issued written guidelines for appropriate strategies employers should use to handle workplace sexual harassment and specific ways to address it. It is the employer’s duty to proactively work to protect all employees from any type of sexual harassment by following sexual harassment policies and procedures that are put in place. Failure to implement and follow the policy and procedure in the workplace can and most likely will lead to liability should an EEOC investigation or lawsuit occur. The employer needs to disperse copies of the policies and procedures and post them in central locations throughout the organization and address sexual harassment in the employee handbooks. The policy and procedures need to clear
The negatives are usually high for each involved and may consist of depression, anxiety and also to a larger extent post-traumatic stress disorder and their association with social problems which involves domestic violence and drug abuse alongside their contribution to maladies such as heart disorder, thyroid dysfunction among others.
While the world has unanimously advanced and is more accepting of change, the workplace continues to be a place of discrimination, prejudice and inequality. Discrimination is broadly defined to ‘distinguish unfavourably’, isolate; and is context based (Pagura, 2012). Abrahams (1991) described the workplace as an ‘inhospitable place’ where gender disparity and wage gaps persist (Stamarski & Son Hing, 2015). Among other states and countries, the Australian government actively implements and passes laws to protect and maintain equal employment rights. While the objective of these laws is ‘to eliminate discrimination,’ the regulatory mechanisms in the legislation are largely ineffective at achieving this ultimate goal (Smith, 2008). However,
Organizations have an obligation to create a harassment free environment for its employees. Harassment doesn’t have to be of a sexual nature. An organization is liable if the harassment is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in adverse employment actions such as the victim being fired, demoted, or transferred. Harassing a person based on their sex is illegal. Sexual harassment has a great impact on an employee’s productivity as well as poses a major impact on an organization’s finances in litigation.
Janzen v. Platy Enterprises Ltd5 defines sexual harassment in the workplace as, “Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that detrimentally affects the work environment or leads to adverse job-related consequences for the victims of harassment.” Janzen5 further goes on to state that when sexual harassment occurs in the workplace, it is an abuse of both economic and sexual power. This type of behavior in
In spite of the economic losses, sexual harassment causes the other main implications in organizations and individuals. The organizational impacts include low productivity, decreased success in regards to achieving goals, lack of job contentment, increased group conflicts, disrespect, and lack of trust among employees, negative image of the firm, increased absenteeism and loss, invaluable staff (Mondy & Mondy, 2012). Individual effects include low work performance, loss of jobs, adverse psychological effects such as stress, anxiety, and depression, negative social consequences such as humiliation and public scrutiny, lack of trust, discrimination from workstations, transfer, and loss of references.