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hello and welcome to training on workplace harassment all of us deserve to work in an environment free of harassment however the significant number of complaints of harassment filed every year proves this is still a problem in this short presentation I'll explain to you how to recognize unlawful workplace harassment and what you an employee should do if you are a victim of harassment before I go further let me clarify something I will explain protections under the federal de ou laws enforced by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission the EEOC these laws apply to all employers with 15 or more employees and all federal employees however your state may have anti-discrimination employment laws that include additional protections that also apply to you and others in your state let's show you a real-life scenario of harassment in the workplace and like all the examples you'll see today it's drawn from actual cases oh okay hurt right even when I would do I'm gonna take a picture for later yeah do that [Music] why don't you take a picture they'll last longer all right so - so let's start with the definition unlawful workplace harassment is unwelcome verbal or physical conduct that is based on one of the protected EEO basis that it alters the conditions of the victims employment this unwelcome harassment can change the conditions of employment in two ways number one by being so objectively offensive intimidating hostile or abusive that it effectively changes the terms and conditions of the workplace or number two by culminating in an employment action such as termination or demotion here are examples that could be part of workplace harassment a man touching a woman inappropriately what do you think you're doing relax is one little piece I'm just kidding anti-islamic cartoons sent to co-workers by email racial slurs painted on a wall or victim's car and derogatory comments made about an employee's physical disability please don't call me names it's demeaning to help you understand the definition let's discuss the phrases unwelcome conduct protected EEO basis and alter the conditions of the victims employment unwelcome conduct is conduct that you did not initiate and you find undesirable or offensive for example the reactions of the woman in the breakroom vignette showed that she was offended by the behavior of the men unwelcomed us depends on how it is received some employees however enjoy engaging in harmless sexual banter dating or even exchanging sexual jokes at work this conduct may not be unwelcome if it is okay with everyone involved another example might be two co-workers who like to debate religion while on their breaks again this may not be unwelcome if it's okay with both employees nonetheless your employer is responsible for everyone's work environment so even if the two coworkers are having a private conversation and both are fine with the topic that doesn't mean everyone else is okay with it if you are offended by the sexual banter or religious discussions you overhear from your co-workers their actions could be creating a hostile work environment for you however if you decide to join in you can't later complain about being harassed because your actions indicated that you did not find your co-workers conduct unwelcome I also want to discuss how to communicate unwelcome this merely saying something like I don't like that joke may be enough you can also communicate unwelcome nasai letting your supervisor know or by going to the person identified in your employer's anti-harassment policy when most people hear the word harassment they think of sexual harassment the men's behavior in the break room vignette might be the beginning of sexual harassment that eventually creates a hostile work environment sex is one of the protected EEO bases so for now let's just focus on sex harassment conduct does not have to be sexual to be based on sex sometimes it's about gender for example a woman who refers to all of her male employees as cavemen or repeatedly tells them how men are inferior to women maybe harassing them but not in a sexual way jokes emailed around the office about women being unable to read a map or unable to properly park cars would be based on gender but are not sexual in nature or when employees bully a co-worker and call her names because she is transgender this may be harassment based on gender even though it is not sexual so harassment based on sex includes both harassment that is sexual and harassment that is non sexual and based on gender did you also know that both the victim and the harasser can be either a woman or a man and the victim and harasser can be the same sex yes men can harass women or men and women can harass men or women this goes for both sexual and gender-based harassment but remember harassment can be based on any of the protected bases you should not ridicule irritate or mistreat another person because of his or her sex or gender race color religion national origin age 40 or older genetic information or disability so what is considered the workplace the workplace is essentially wherever you are working not just the physical space where you work for example while on a business trip a company's attorney makes sexual innuendos about her male assistant quote taking care of her needs and refers to him as her boy-toy he is embarrassed and offended by these comments and references so this could be workplace harassment even though this is happening outside of their actual worksite your workplace can extend to anywhere you might travel for work for a conference or trade fair or even at a local restaurant where an employee's retirement celebration is held and absolutely anyone who has access to your workplace can be considered a harasser this means your supervisor a supervisor from another area a co-worker or even non-employees like the guy who repairs the copier the woman who delivers the mail or one of the folks who clean your office windows could be a harasser we've covered the first part of our definition what is unwelcome conduct and we've talked about the protected EEO basis now let's talk about the third face in our definition alter the conditions of the victims employment a hostile work environment is created if there are comments or conduct that is unwelcome and so severe or pervasive that it creates an intimidating or abusive environment for you or others so what is meant by severe or pervasive first let's look at conduct that is severe conduct that is severe is so serious or harmful that it may only need to happen once to create a hostile work environment physical touching escalates the severity of any given situation other examples of severe conduct include highly charged words and symbols in the workplace like a hangman's noose or swastika painted on the wall or use of the n-word in general the more severe the conduct the less pervasive it needs to be to create a hostile work environment so what do we mean by conduct that is pervasive pervasive means the conduct occurs on a regular basis that's why some harassment such as jokes may not be initially considered severe but when it occurs over and over again it can become more than just inappropriate it can be considered pervasive the conduct by the men in the break room vignette occurred once however if the men in the opening vignette often made sexually suggestive gestures towards their co-worker when they saw her or passed her in the hallway then the frequency of their conduct could create a hostile work environment for her occasional teasing offhand comments or isolated incidents that are not serious may not be considered unlawful harassment but the more often this type of behavior occurs the less severe it needs to be to create a hostile work environment harassment can come in different forms you've probably heard of the term hostile work environment but have you heard of the term tangible employment action anyone with access to your workplace can create a hostile work environment a supervisor a co-worker or a non employee but only a supervisor or someone with supervisory authority can make significant changes in the conditions of your employment in other words when unwelcome conduct results in a tangible employment action such as denial of overtime discipline promotion or termination the harasser can only be someone with this kind of Authority for example if your supervisor is pressuring you for dates or for sex and you keep saying no he may be creating a hostile work environment for you if your supervisor then punishes you for saying no by taking away your office space or denying you training then he has taken a tangible employment action against you and remember it doesn't matter whether your supervisor is a man or a woman either way no employee should have to put up with harassment or be punished for speaking up about it so what are your responsibilities as an employee when it comes to unlawful workplace harassment first do you know if your employer has an anti harassment policy most employers do find yours and read it secondly you should avoid engaging in inappropriate behavior what is inappropriate behavior to start with offensive conduct that is based on race sex color religion national origin age or disability is inappropriate so for example when you start to make a joke about someone's age or forward one of those emails that talks about a woman in a derogatory manner stop yourself next if you believe you are a victim of harassment or witness harassment and have supervisory responsibilities take a look at your employer's policy and follow it typically your first step to getting help is to alert an appropriate official if you don't have any idea where to start or you're just not sure or have questions talk to someone in your HR or EEO office once alerted it then your employer's responsibility to take steps to investigate and stop harassment finally commit to attending and participating in all training sessions provided by your employer regarding workplace harassment it is your responsibility to stay informed in this presentation we've covered a massive amount of information in a short time we defined unlawful employment harassment talked about the bases covered by the EEO laws and how the workplace extends to wherever you were working and discussed how harassment can affect the work environment or affect the conditions of employment for its victims if you still have questions we have lots of information about harassment on our website at WWE that's a EEOC gov thank you for taking the time to learn more about workplace harassment as working in an environment free of harassment is the right of every employee