An employee was livid after a picture of a woman with exposed breasts who bore a striking resemblance was circulated at work. The employer identified nine responsible employees and required them to take sexual harassment prevention training. Disciplinary measures were also taken. An apology by the three main culprits was also forthcoming. Because the employer’s actions were swift and ended the harassment, the employer could not be held liable.
Health plans may not discriminate on the basis of sex. The District Court decided that “the law is no longer blind to the fact that only women can get pregnant, bear children or use prescription contraception.
After suffering a $170,000.00 judgment for sexual harassment, a company sold all its assets. The buyer, which was on notice about the judgment, continued the operation. The buyer was liable as a successor employer for the judgment.
A male employee assaulted by co-workers and subjected to anti-gay comments did not have a Title VII claim because (1) the harassers were not motivated by sexual desire; (2) the harassers were not generally hostile toward one sex; and (3) the harassers were not punishing the plaintiff because of noncompliance with gender stereotypes.
After suffering a $170,000 judgement for sexual harassment, a company sold all its assets. The buyer which was on notice about the judgment continued the operation. The buyer was liable as a successor employer for the judgement.
The President demanded to have dinner and drinks with the VP of Legal Affairs – without her husband and kids. The VP rebuffed and had her cell phone and car taken away, was assigned boring work and was not interviewed for the General Counsel position. The Seventh Circuit found the incidents to be isolated and minor. There was no employer liability because there was no adverse tangible employment action.
A male employee was harassed because he was perceived as effeminate. The Ninth Circuit found that since the employee was harassed for not fitting his co-workers’ view of a male stereotype, his Title VII claim survived.
Human Resource Executive editors select this year’s top 10 training products. [read the article]
| The Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has incorporated IET’s online harassment prevention program as part of its management training program. |  |
“AIG and IET worked together to develop this course. Both the content and the administrative tool can be tailored to meet an employer’s needs. I believe this course will increase awareness about workplace harassment and help maximize affirmative defenses.”
Steve Gorman, Senior Director
Human Resources Management, AIG
“IET was a pleasure to work with. We rolled out IET’s discriminatory harassment prevention course without a hitch. Online training has finally arrived.”
Ryta Ringrose, Vice President
HR Employee Service Center, Guinness UDV
“Charter Communications provides all of our employees with customized online discriminatory harassment training produced by Interactive Employment Training, Inc. IET was great to work with and the course has been very well received.”
Laura Mainville Guenther , Director, Employment and Development
Charter Communications
Eleven scenarios are presented illustrating a variety of discriminatory harassment themes. These scenarios vividly re-enact situations that every employee could face, not just a re-telling of company policies or the law. Employees are asked questions in each scenario through a number of office devices such as simulated e-mail and inter-office memos. Correct and incorrect answers are explained. After the employees have completed the course, they are given a short test to reinforce concepts learned, which expands based on the number of incorrect answers.
The course is introduced with a title screen which includes the organization’s name, logo and any other pertinent information. The course becomes a vehicle through which an organization’s strong commitment to discriminatory harassment prevention is communicated. A statement from a high level executive can be included in the course utilizing digital audio or video technology or using simple text and pictures. The course can include the organization’s discriminatory harassment policy.
Release date: January 2001 Awards: HR Executive Top Ten Training Product Price: $24.95 per user. Volume discounts available, customization fees are additional
Demo registration: http://www.hrtrain.com/demo
Course information: http://www.hrtrain.com/site.html
The Seventh Circuit writes: “the parties appear to have simply collected the sum total of all the unpleasant events in Volovsek’s work history since 1992, dumped them in the legal mixing bowl of this lawsuit, set the Title VII-blender to puree and poured the resulting blob on the court.” One “barefoot and pregnant” comment stood out because it was made around the time Volovsek was denied a promotion. Her failure to promote claim is therefore good enough to be presented to a jury. Her harassment claim is dismissed because Volovsek failed to show harm.