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Click Here for a printable version.
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| The Scenarios: |
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| The Touchy Supervisor | The Demanding Supervisor |
| Sexual Remarks and Pin-ups | Outside Harasser | Interoffice Dating |
| The Holiday Party | The Good 'Ol Boys Network | Women Harassing a Man |
| Lunch With the Boss | What Can You Do? | |
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The Holiday Party: |
| Introduction: |
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 Bill, an employee, gets drunk at the holiday party and tells some dirty jokes to his co-workers. Some of his co-workers laugh or don't mind, but one co-worker doesn't find him funny and is bothered by his behavior.
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| Points to be Considered: |
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- Can employees be held responsible for conduct that occurs away from the workplace?
- Can a joke be sexual harassment?
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| Discussion: |
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1. Can employees be held responsible for conduct that occurs away from the workplace?
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Yes. An employee’s working environment must be free of unlawful sexual harassment. This includes employer-sponsored functions like holiday parties and picnics. It may even include functions that are not "formally" employer-sponsored if employees must be there.
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2. How far does an employee's behavior have to go before a hostile environment can be created?
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Generally, one comment or joke may not create an unlawful hostile environment, especially when immediate corrective action is taken. This is because one incident, by itself, generally would not create an atmosphere that, based on sex, is so hostile that it would interfere with an employee's job performance. You should not, however, rely on the fact that something happened just once as a reason for ignoring inappropriate behavior. Even if the behavior in question was just one incident, if an employee was disturbed, that employee or other employees must step forward to notify Human Resources.
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| ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE: |
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Phil, a supervisor, is facing a deadline. In order to make some progress, he asks the members of his work group, men and women, to his house for dinner to brainstorm. During the dinner, the group discusses non-work issues as well as the project. During the discussion, Phil talks about his preference for dating large breasted women and makes other sexually explicit comments, making several members of the work group uncomfortable.
Phil's comments are clearly inappropriate. If they bother you or you believe they might be sexual harassment – step forward.
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| ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE: |
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At Roger's organization, Fridays are "casual" days where employees can wear T-shirts and jeans. On one Friday, Roger wears a T-shirt with a sexually explicit picture on it. Some of the employees think it is hilarious, others are offended and complained to Human Resources. He never wore the shirt before. Roger's supervisor saw Roger wearing the T-shirt. Although this was the only time Roger behaved in any way that could be considered sexually offensive, the organization decides to counsel Roger on the importance of being aware of the sensitivity of others.
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| Summary: |
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- Harassment can occur away from the workplace.
- Once you are aware of any incident that is inappropriate, action should be taken to prevent it from happening again.
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