| Topic Name: |
Sexual Harassment |
| Message Name: |
Give him a copy of the policy |
| Date Posted: |
06/20/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
Before I offer you any advice I need to know a few more particulars:
Is this person a superior, is he your subordinate, an eqaul or is he in a different department?
If this person is a subordinate have the others talked you about his behavior? If they haven't then as a manager it is your responsibility to call each in privately and ask them if _____(person's name) makes them feel uncomfortable. Ask them to elaborate on how this person makes them feel uncomfortable.
If he is a superior I'm not really sure what you can do other than quit if he is the manager of your departmant, because if you talk to him it could jeopardize your career with the company.
If the person is a superior but not the person you report to then maybe you can talk to your boss about it in private. Just tell the boss that ______ makes you feel uncomforable. Be very diplomatic.
If he is an equal, maybe you could pull him aside at the end of the day and have a private conversation with him. Don't mention termination. Tell him that as a friend you are concerned with his behavior. Be very diplomatic as you are treading dangerous ground. Or better yet talk to your boss in private and mention how uncofortable _____ makes you feel. You have to put it in such a way that you don't appear to be complaining to the boss.
If the person is a subordiate after you have called in the others and spoke with them, call him into your office in private and let him know that you have a concern about his behavior, voice the concerns that you have told us about. Let him know that the behavior is unacceptable and you want it to stop. In my opinion you should only terminate the employee after all the other options have been exhausted. I think if you terminate someone, you have to give them two notices stating what was wrong and what needs to be improved to make it legal before termination unless its a mass layoff. I don't know for sure, ask your HR manager they know better about that stuff. |
| Message: |
I know you posted this a very long time ago... but I just wanted you to know that I have dealt with the investigation and discipline of numerous harassment complaints, if you do not have an HR person or an employment attorney to aid you, the first thing that you should do is document the complaint and then start an investigation (if you are the one that is the one that feels harassed then talk to your supervisor and have that person start the investigation). Talk to the complainant, the alleged harasser any witnesses to the alleged behavior (otherwise it will likely be a he said/she said). If you find that there was any harassment that can be considered unlawful under the law, depending on the severity and pervasiveness of the same, you can decide on the punishment from a written warning up to termination. Talk to both the complainant and the harasser about what, if anything you found. Give both the individuals a copy of the company's policy against harassment and make sure that they sign something to the effect that it was discussed with them and understood. Under the law a company may not be liable if it has a comprehensive policy and takes prompt and remedial action. I would need to know more about the severity of his or her behavior before I can say whether termination would be appropriate for a second violation. Please let me know if I can ever assist you.
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