Phil, a Supervisor, made several unsolicited, sexually suggestive advances towards Julie in the workplace. Despite Julie repeatedly asking Phil to stop, the advances continued. Julie reported the matter to her Manager, John. In recent months, John had heard of similar complaints from other female staff about Phil, but this was the first formal complaint.
Unsure of what action to take John sent Phil a copy of the organisation’s Sexual Harassment Policy and asked him in an email to read the policy document and not to act in a manner that could contravene the policy, but took no other action. The behaviour continued and Julie and the other female staff made a formal complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Did the organisation meet its duty of care to its female employees? What risks does the organisation face? Can the organisation retrieve the situation?
*All case studies depicted are compilations from actual events. All names of person or references to organisations have been changed for reasons of privacy and confidentiality. Case studies are for illustrative purposes only. Any similarity to actual persons or organisations is purely coincidental.
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