Don’t Know What Constitutes Workplace Harassment? Then Don’t Dabble in Challenging Workplace Harassment Claims

I’m not a lawyer; I don’t play one on TV. I have, however, been a Human Resources practitioner for 33 years. Among many other HR tasks during that time frame, I continue to regularly conduct workplace no-harassment training, and I compliantly investigate and stop workplace harassment via corrective action and termination.  Once made aware of harassment, the employer must investigate and stop the harassment. A workplace harassment investigation is not a criminal investigation: we are not required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the harassment occurred. Instead, the threshold for workplace investigations is that there’s a 51% or greater likelihood that the harassment occurred.

The conduct below definitively constitutes workplace harassment in New York state (see the NYS Workplace Model No-Harassment Policy at this link); and when the conduct involves a manager towards their subordinate employee, there is automatic liability for both the manager and the employer; and lastly, a subordinate employee cannot from a compliance standpoint give consent to a manager in the workplace because of the inherent power relationship:

• Using terms of endearment with an employee such as darling, sweetheart or dear (verbal sexual harassment);
• Making (gender-based) remarks about employee’s clothing (verbal harassment);
• Questioning an employee about their romantic or sexual life, and sexual preferences (verbal harassment);
• Kissing an employee without their consent (physical sexual harassment);
• Touching an employee at all, anywhere without their consent (see above in bold) – rubbing them on the back, grabbing their buttocks, hugging them (physical sexual harassment).

These are not petty slights or trivial inconveniences – this is clearly workplace harassment. 

Don’t know what constitutes workplace harassment? Don’t understand how workplace harassment claims are compliantly investigated and adjudicated to protect the interests of all involved? Educate yourself and stop dabbling, including but not limited to making statements without the above context – otherwise, you’re negatively impacting safety in business and at work, to say the least.