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Consensual Relationship Agreements

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Consensual Relationship Agreement Case Study
Tracy Duckett
Dr. Ronnie Jones
Bus. 520 Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Fall Quarter 2012

Abstract
It is not uncommon that an office romance will develop between co-workers; based on the fact that majority of their lifetime is spent at their place of employment. Employers are aware of this possibility and have workplace romance policies to protect themselves and the parties in the relationship. Consensual Relationship Agreements (CRAs) are one of the policies that protect the company and the parties involved from the outcome of the relationship ending that could result into sexual harassment claims or bad publicity. There are pros and cons to having these policies and …show more content…

This agreement not only protects the employer, it also protects the individuals in the relationship. If the relationship is ended by one of the individuals and the other disagrees and begins harassing them at work, this would be considered harassment. “At this point, the company would step in when notified and try to do something about it,” stated Lewis (2002). This protects the employer from a sexual harassment lawsuit as they protect the person being harassed.
CRA’s are definitely necessary to protect employers from office romances that end badly by asking the parties involved to agree that their relationship is voluntary and consensual as well as agree with the company’s sexual harassment policy. It helps minimize the employer’s liability if the relationship ends badly and it develops into a harassment claim. Lynn D. Lieber, an employment law attorney and founder/CEO of Workkplace Answers said, “They aren’t bulletproof, but it is more likely the judge will believe the relationship was consensual if it is in writing,” (Tyler, 2008).
Argument Against the use of CRAs in the Workplace
Two arguments that are against the use of CRAs in the workplace are legitimacy and the invasion of privacy. Because the documents have not been tested in court, it is thought they

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