Can a Person Go to Jail for Harassment?

Feldman is a nationally syndicated legal correspondent and general counsel of the Judge Group, Inc. Epstein is a writer and professor of writing at NYU.

Can a person go to jail for harassment?

So Sue Me Jackass says: There’s a difference between sexual harassment as a civil claim—what most workplace harassment charges are—and a criminal claim. In a civil claim, although you can be sued for monetary damages, the process will not lead to jail time. However, in some cases, a crime may have been committed, which could lead to criminal charges, and that could result in jail time. Criminal charges could include, for example, "forcible touching," "sexual battery or other offensive touching," "molestation," or "rape."

What about a third-party offense? Can you get the third party fired?

So Sue Me Jackass says: Take the case of a female salesperson who was subjected to a disgusting incident at a client’s office. She wanted him fired. But she can’t sue him for sexual harassment, because sexual harassment is employment-based and the perpetrator was not her company’s employee.

Meanwhile, could she sue her company for harassment?

So Sue Me Jackass says: She could say her company failed to protect her from harassment, and the company could be liable if, for example, it had known that he person she was sent to see had a history of inappropriate behavior and the company sent her anyway.

Using the "hope" system to avoid lawsuits? (We "hope" we’re doing it right.) Be sure! Check out every facet of your HR program with BLR’s unique checklist-based audit program. Click here to try HR Audit Checklists on us for 30 days!

So there’s nothing else that can be done for the harassed employee?

So Sue Me says: Here’s an important example of how to respond to "we can’t do anything" situations when a colleague reports harassment to you:

• Suggest that she talk to the police.
• Offer to call the harasser’s boss to report the incident.
• Write a memo to the harasser’s human resources director. It’s up to the management team at that company to decide how to handle the matter internally.
• Speak to a manager in the office about what happened so he or she can placed a note in the client’s record along with a Do Not Call message in the database.
• Finally, thank the colleague for telling you, so no one will have to face the harasser again.

Advisor note: Feldman actually followed these steps for her colleague who reported the harassment to her. Though the colleague felt "grossed out by the whole thing" and "wanted to go home and take 100 showers," she said she was grateful for the way Feldman and the company responded to her complaint. The lesson is that there is a great deal you can do when you "can’t do anything."

What about your company? Any chance that there’s harassment going on that you don’t know about? What about FMLA abuse, off-the-clock work, or any of literally dozens of other illegal or inappropriate activities? There’s only one way to find out—a thorough HR audit.

To accomplish a successful audit, BLR’s editors recommend a unique program called HR Audit Checklists. Why are checklists so great? Because they’re completely impersonal, and they force you to jump through all the necessary hoops, one by one. They also ensure consistency in how operations are conducted. And that’s vital in HR, where it’s all too easy to land in court if you discriminate in how you treat one employee over another.

Find problems before the feds do.  HR Audit Checklists ensures that you have a chance to fix problems before government agents or employees’ attorneys get a chance. Try the program at no cost or risk.

HR Audit Checklists compels thoroughness. For example, it contains checklists both on Preventing Sexual Harassment and on Handling Sexual Harassment Complaints. You’d likely never think of all the possible trouble areas without a checklist, but with it, just scan down the list and instantly see where you might get tripped up.

In fact, housed in the HR Audit Checklists binder are dozens of extensive lists organized into reproducible packets, for easy distribution to line managers and supervisors. There’s a separate packet for each of the following areas:

• Staffing and training (incorporating Equal Employment Opportunity in recruiting and hiring, including immigration issues)
• HR administration (including communications, handbook content, and recordkeeping)
• Health and safety (including OSHA responsibilities)
• Benefits and leave (including health cost containment, COBRA, FMLA, workers’ compensation, and several areas of leave)
• Compensation (payroll and the Fair Labor Standards Act)
• Performance and termination (appraisals, discipline, and termination)

HR Audit Checklists is available to HR Daily Advisor readers for a no-cost, no-risk evaluation in your office for up to 30 days. Visit HR Audit Checklists and we’ll be happy to arrange it.

Other Recent Articles on HR Management
Put Sharks in Key Positions for 2010
9 Leadership Strategies to Beat the Recession Blues
Survey Says: You’re Probably in Violation
Complain About Me? I Don’t Think So