Lawsuits are down, but judgments are up. Training is the answer.
This fall marks 20 years since the term “sexual harassment” entered the American lexicon in a big way. Americans came to know it through the testimony of Anita Hill, as she complained about alleged unwelcome advances from her ex-boss, now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, as he faced his congressional nomination hearing.
It’s also been 20 years since Congress added to the Civil Rights law the ability to sue employers for damages in discrimination cases, which include harassment. This gave bosses nationwide added incentive to combat the complaint.
How has the nation done on harassment since? Well, there’s good news and bad. The good news is that the number of sexual harassment cases filed is down considerably. Some 15,889 were filed in 1997, the year harassment litigation crested. In 2010, there were 11,717, reports the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). That’s a drop of more than 25%.
Satisfy your A.B. 1825 training obligations, quickly and completely. Find out how.
The bad news for employers: When cases do go before a jury, judgments have skyrocketed! In 1991, the average harassment award was $141,000. Now, it’s $1 million.
What’s more, some states — including California — are imposing personal liability on those who let harassment happen. In one case a few years back, the firm involved was hit with a harassment judgment of $1.7 million. However, two supervisors were each ordered to put $50,000 of their own money toward that total.The takeaway from these dispatches from the harassment front? It’s both good business and the right thing to do to set up a program that discourages harassment from happening and that responds quickly and effectively if it does. Court decisions also show that having an effective program can be a mitigating factor in your favor if you ever are hauled into court.
Plus, A.B. 1825 requires California businesses with 50 or more employees to provide their managers with sexual harassment training every two years — and the requirements are fairly specific.
Cost-Effective California Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response Training
Our California Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response training course provides California employers with everything you need to satisfy A.B. 1825, including a 2-hour minimum course length, interactive content, expert “help link,” and employee policy acknowledgement.
The course was developed by BLR lawyers, industry experts, and instructional designers and automatically updated so you can have the confidence your training program reflects the latest regulations and workplace safety best practices.
With only a few minutes’ setup, your company will have a complete A.B. 1825 online training program with professionally developed courses, employee testing capabilities, and systematic documentation of employee training sessions and scores.
The course includes:
- Interactive, real-life scenarios and exercises
- Access to a BLR expert to answer questions during the course, via the Expert Help Link
- Ability to upload your organization’s policies, or use a sample policy provided in course
- Easy-to-use online reporting tool
- All the reports you need to be in complete compliance with A.B. 1825
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“As an attorney who reviewed the BLR online training materials and who regularly provides sexual harassment avoidance training to managers and HR professionals, I found the content excellent and the presentation engaging. This program is a good alternative for managers who do not have the time and/or ability to attend live training.” — Allen M. Kato, J.D., Fenwick & West LLP |
Try it out now, risk-free, and be sure you’re in compliance with the stringent training requirements of A.B. 1825.
Download your free copy of How To Survive an Employee Lawsuit: 10 Tips for Success today!