You might assume that a professional practice involving surgeons would not be at risk for a sexual harassment lawsuit. Unfortunately, two surgical practices in Bellaire, Texas, were recently charged with allowing sexual harassment and retaliation to occur in their workplace.
Here’s what happened: A male nurse supervisor made unwanted sexual advances and told sexual jokes to female co-workers and subordinates. Apparently, he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong even though the female workers felt it was unprofessional and offensive. They complained about his treatment for many months. The women who complained were given more difficult job assignments and evaluated more strictly on their job performance. One female nurse actually made a written complaint of sexual harassment and was fired the next day.
The female workers filed harassment and whistle blower charges against the surgical practices. After an extensive time-consuming and expensive investigation, the courts found the business guilty of allowing the harassing behavior to occur and failing to protect the workers who complained from being retaliated against.
In addition to having to pay a $290,000 settlement and all associated legal fees, the owners of the practice were required to hire a human resources specialist and implement a training program to prevent future sexual harassment or retaliation acts.
Here are 10 things business owners should do to avoid this type of situation:
1.Implement a written policy prohibiting harassment or discrimination of any kind, including sexual harassment.
2.The policy needs to be clear about what is expected of all employees, including supervisors and managers.
3.The policy needs to explain what the procedure is for reporting a complaint, how the complaint will be investigated and how it will be resolved, including potential consequences.
4.The written policy should also make it clear that it is illegal to retaliate against anyone who files a complaint.
5.It doesn’t matter if the complaint is reported to someone in the company or to authorities outside the company.
6.Employees, customers and suppliers are all protected against harassment and retaliation.
7.Implement an education program for all employees to ensure they can recognize harassment and know how to report it.
8.Managers should also be trained on how they must address such complaints and report them up the chain of command or resolve them.
9.Monitor the policy to make sure everyone is adhering to it.
10.Identify any trends occurring in specific departments or with specific employees and be prepared to address each report appropriately.
Just having a written policy isn’t enough.
You have to take a proactive approach to ensuring a safe workplace that does not allow for sexual harassment or retaliation against those who report it.
