LITIGATION VALUE: Over $700,000
It would be pretty safe to say that any time a company’s regional manager asks a female employee to act out a lesbian love scene during its anti-harassment training you have problems. Expensive problems. Not only does the company face liability for Michael’s actions in contributing to the hostile working environment but his treatment of and attitude towards the seriousness of sexual harassment claims could jeopardize the company’s ability to defend itself in the future.
One of an employer’s primary defenses to a sexual harassment claim is that it took reasonable care to prevent and correct any sexually harassing behavior and that the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of the employer’s policy. To prove this, a company must show, among other things, that it has a sexual harassment policy and that it provides training to its employees on that policy – just like Dundler Mifflin’s corporate office was trying to do before Michael got involved.
