When is it Sexual Harassment?
What you should know about sexual harassment and how to keep it from happening
Imagine you’re on your shift chatting with a group of co-workers – men and women, correctional officers and shift supervisors. A shift supervisor tells a joke about something he saw on TV last night – a joke that’s sexual in nature. No one objects and almost everyone laughs. Could this be sexual harassment?
It depends.
According to Susan Lindsey, CCA assistant general counsel and ethics officer, Labor and Employment, sexual harassment is defined in part as “conduct that is unwelcome.” So the questions is, did any of the people present find the joke offensive? Even if an offended employee laughed along with everyone else, that person may have felt the comment was inappropriate - either under the law or under company policy.
“Under the law, it’s not how the person reacts at the time that determines whether something is considered sexual harassment; it’s what that person thinks about what happened,” explains Lindsey. “In a situation where there’s peer pressure or an intimidation factor, you can’t always tell what a person thinks about something.”
Scott Craddock, CCA assistant general counsel and ethics officer, says these pressures to conform can be especially prevalent in corrections.
“Corrections is a profession that - like the military and law enforcement - tends to reward loyalty and following the chain of command, so complaints may be perceived as disloyal, or deviating from the chain of command.”
Nonetheless, Craddock says, employees have a legal right to report instances of perceived sexual harassment, which can include less blatant acts like forwarding inappropriate e-mails or posting photos of swimsuit models in one’s workspace.
But victimized employees aren’t the only ones with a right to speak up; other employees who are aware of misconduct have both a right and a duty to report it. Once reported, supervisors are responsible for ensuring that allegations are investigated and appropriate corrective action is taken when necessary.
All too often, though, supervisors don’t recognize allegations or fail to take them seriously.
“It’s not easy to raise an issue like sexual harassment,” says Craddock. “If someone is raising the issue, they’ve had to overcome enormous hurdles to do so, and supervisors shouldn’t view that person as just another complaining employee.”
But stopping sexual harassment is more than just a legal obligation.
“It’s important for people not to think of this strictly as a legal issue,” Craddock says. “It’s a professionalism and decency issue. CCA doesn’t prevent sexual harassment just because it has to legally, but because it wants to maintain an environment that’s a fundamentally decent place.”
And of course, a decent work environment means a better overall on-the-job experience.
“The reason why we want to make sure sexual harassment isn’t happening is because people need to enjoy their workplace,” says Steve Kaiser, CCA managing director, Organizational Development, Staffing and Training. “The company’s very foundation - The CCA Way - says we don’t tolerate sexual harassment and CCA’s code of ethics also states that it’s prohibited.”
Brian Collins, CCA executive vice president and chief human resources officer, says accountability and consistency are vital for preventing sexual harassment.
“We have to continue emphasizing that company leadership must hold people accountable - at every link in the chain - for living The CCA Way. If people maintain a culture of respect, trust and integrity, that issue goes away. When someone doesn’t uphold those principles, they must be held accountable for it.”
Kaiser says that it’s essential to cultivate a work environment that welcomes openness, transparency and vocalizing concerns.
“People being frank with each other and maintaining a culture where we all feel safe to speak up is key,” he says. “When we have problems that become systemic, that ingredient is missing; employees may fear retribution or retaliation.”
Under company policy, however, retaliation against victims of sexual harassment is prohibited.
Ways to report sexual harassment:
Talk to a supervisor or facility Human Resources manager
Call CCA’s Ethics and Compliance helpline at 1-888-757-4448
Go to www.8667574448.complaince-helpline.com
For more on CCA’s policy about sexual harassment and how to report it, see Policy 3-17 (Harassment, Sexual Harassment), Policy 3-22 (Internal Investigation) and Policy 339-05-07 (Internal Investigation Administrative Directive).
By DeAndra Mack
Sound Out
Fran Collins at Marion Adjustment Center:
Harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted). I think staff in general forget this also includes profanity. Using the "F", "MF", or "B" words as verbs or nouns seems to be the most prevalent causes of a "hostile work environment." The staff using the language usually look down up on ones that do not, and thus they are not considered for possible opportunities. The English language is nearly endless in its selection of words which could be used, why use profanity?
Brian Schaefer Jr at N/A:
I agree with the sexual harassment, because it should never be tolerated. Jokes, tv shows, movies, games, and etc should be kept outside the department and amongst someone other than a co worker, because being a CO means adopting a new life style, meaning integrity, loyalty, respect, dignity, and most of all honesty. I asked myself how can it happen in a prison where CO's should look at each other as brothers and sisters, a team, a unit, and or a elite group of men and women who chose comradery. Same thing applies to foul language or even gestures.