Tag: Sexual Harassment

Are You Prepared for Virtual Training

“Trainers need to prepare themselves to facilitate and to engage with an audience they don’t see,” says Cindy Huggett, training consultant and author of Virtual Training Basics (www.cindyhuggett.com). First, trainers need to “learn the platform—in and out. Know every button,” she recommends. Second, be well versed in the technology, test the technology in advance, and […]

Personal liability of managers for workplace harassment

By Marisa Victor and Lydia de Guzman Canadian employers, like those in the United States, are required to deal effectively with sexual harassment in the workplace. But managers have usually been personally liable only in the worst cases. A new decision may signal a change in this. The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario decision in […]

Give Employees the Gift of Financial Training

One way to afford the expense of providing financial training, says Liz Davidson, CEO of Financial Finesse, Inc. (www.financialfinesse.com) is to use your 401(k) plan’s ERISA account. This account is sometimes used to pay for plan expenses and sometimes refunded to participants. As long as the financial education is targeted toward retirement, using the ERISA […]

Is sexual harassment discrimination if there is no evidence of differential treatment?

By Charles Harrison The answer to the question in the title is yes, a Canadian court confirmed recently. Sexual harassment is discrimination. Overturning a decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court, the British Columbia Court of Appeal recently clarified that evidence of unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature is alone sufficient to establish discrimination on […]

Making Your Managers Manage—Never-Ending Comp Challenge

One thing’s sure—when things go South, you’re going to catch the heat. Some of the most common problems: Performance Appraisals and Compensation Since performance appraisals are tied to compensation in most organizations, there’s a strong temptation for managers to “game the system.” They want certain people to get certain raises, so they manipulate the ratings […]

Does This Recent EEOC Lawsuit Make You Rethink Your Sexual Harassment Training?

In the suit, Fry Electronics worker America Rios complained to her boss, Ka Lam,  that her manager was sexting her and inviting her to his house to drink. After Lam reported the harassment to Fry’s legal department, he was fired, allegedly for “declining performance.” Unfortunately, Lam’s work had been consistently commended. This, of course, is […]

Could Sexual Harassment Training Have Prevented This Controversial Ruling in the First Place?

In 2007, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued on behalf of a class of female tractor-trailer drivers against a large interstate trucking firm. But judges in two federal courts have now virtually thrown the case out. What happened. CRST Van Expedited is the trucking firm, and one of its female trainees complained to EEOC […]

Need More Effective Training to Prevent Sexual Harassment?

In today’s Advisor, we’ll propose several scenarios that will help with your anti-harassment training. Jack and Jill Jack, a manager, asks Jill, one of his supervisors, out on a date. She says “No,” he never asks her again, and their business relationship continues as it was. Any problem? [Not immediately, but what if Jill suffers […]

Case Demonstrates Importance of Training on Same-Sex Harassment

What happened In April 1990, “Kerry” was hired as a parole officer by the New York State Division of Parole. In February 2005, “Shannon,” a female area supervisor, was transferred to oversee the Queens, New York, office where Kerry worked. Kerry alleged that on three occasions between mid-April and mid-September 2005, Shannon sexually harassed her […]