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Sexual Harassment

By Robert G. Brody and Katherine M. Bogard
January 01, 2018

Harvey Weinstein has put the spotlight on sexual harassment in the workplace. Under this light we see multiple industries struggling with their own sexual harassment allegations and revelations. For instance, restaurateur John Besh, a world-famous New Orleans chef, has been accused of not only sexually harassing an employee, but also allowing a hostile work environment to run rampant throughout his restaurants. Amazingly, his 1200-person company did not have a Human Resources department until the allegations came to light, at which point the company quickly hired an HR professional to try to control the damage.

Due to the same underlying issue, but through no fault of its own, Netflix, the movie streaming giant, has scrapped multiple shows and/or terminated its relationships with actors in recent weeks due to sexual harassment allegations against its stars, including Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K. Not surprisingly, politics is not immune from this blight; there have been multiple allegations of sexual harassment including harassers exposing their genitals and grabbing victims' private parts in various Congressional offices, as well as the continued allegations against Roy Moore from Alabama, who recently lost his bid for the Senate, and Rep. John Conyers from Michigan. This controversy caused the Senate to pass a resolution in November mandating sexual harassment training for everyone working in Congress' upper chamber. In light of all of these allegations across multiple industries and even in United States government, victims of sexual harassment are now feeling more emboldened than ever to speak out. All sectors of our society are reeling from such allegations, and are looking for any way to avoid the damning exposure of these claims.

In light of this new reality, now is a prime time for employers to revisit their sexual harassment policies and practices and learn from the mistakes of others. Aside from being against the law, sexual harassment can create serious public relations problems and destroy productivity. Failure to recognize these realities can devastate the continued viability of a company. For instance, the Weinstein Company is currently in shambles due to the voluminous allegations against one of its founders.

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