Joe Bontke, M.Ed

EEOC Houston District Office

713651 4994 office

713 907 2855 cell joe.bontke@eeoc.gov

May 2nd, 2018 8:45 A.M.

Harassment in the Workplace

Due to the #MeToo Movement

What to do with the person being accused

What the EEOC is looking at?

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Nominated: General Counsel

Sharon Fast Gustafson

Charlotte Burrows

Nominated:

Daniel Gade Chai

Feldblum

Nominated Chair:

Janet Dhillon Acting Chair:

Victoria Lipnic

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title VII race, color, national origin, religion, sex Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, amended 2008

ADA disability (actual, perceived as, and history of)

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

ADEA age 40 years or older

Equal Pay Act of 1963

EPA wage discrimination because of sex

Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008

GINA acquisition of –or– discrimination due to

genetic information

EEOC Jurisdiction

8 protected categories

color race

religion

sex + pregnancy

national origin age (>40)

disability

genetic information

Obligations of Employers

Make the workplace free of unlawful

discrimination, harassment and

retaliation

Promptly and confidentially investigate

complaints of discrimination,

harassment and retaliation

Where discrimination, harassment and

retaliation may have occurred, take

prompt and appropriate remedial action (i.e., discipline commensurate with the offense)

Personal Space in the U.S.

Intimate distance 18”

Personal distance 18” to 4’

Social distance 4’ to 8’

Public distance 8’ to 10’

Adapted from Personal Space Categories for Those in the United States

Retaliation

Oppose an unlawful employment practice

File a complaint, testify, assist or participate

in an investigation, proceeding or hearing

concerning prohibited discrimination

Request a reasonable accommodation

(religion or disability)

EEOC statutes protect

individuals who

EEOC 2017 Charge Receipts by Type

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%Nationwide

Texas

#solveharassment Report available at:

www.eeoc.gov/task_force/

harassment/report.cfm

Rebooting Harassment Prevention

Harassment continues to be

one of the most frequently

raised complaint—

• over 30% of all private

sector cases

• 43% of Federal sector cases

A Bipartisan Effort

The EEOC concluded that

trainings have failed as a

prevention tool because

they are “too focused on

simply avoiding legal

liability.”

#MeToo

• In October 2017, Harvey Weinstein, a very powerful

producer in the movie industry for decades, was accused

of sexual harassment by more than thirty women—

including famous

Gwyneth Paltrow,

Kate Beckinsale,

Ashley Judd,

Rose McGowan

Angelina Jolie

11

If I don’t have to pay her equally,

I wont have to treat her equally

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dMoK48QGL8

#MeToo

First it was a story.

Then a moment. Now, months

after women began to come

forward in droves to accuse

powerful men of sexual

harassment and assault, it is a

movement.

Time magazine has named “the

silence breakers” its person of

the year for 2017, referring to

those women, and the global

conversation they have started.

13

Women in low-wage US farm jobs

say #MeToo

A movement grows

'Me Too' Series Exploring Sexual

Harassment Set at PBS

• Hosted by Zainab Salbi, the five-part series will dig

deeper into the recent harassment headlines.

• Debuting Feb. 2, #MeToo, Now What?

• The series asks the question: How did we get here and

how can we use this moment to effect positive and lasting

change moving forward?

17

18

19

20

#TIMESUP

21

What do we know now?

How can we translate

knowledge into action?

Select Task Force on the Study of Workplace Harassment

Purpose: To Examine Workplace

Harassment

22

Harassment Remains

A Persistent Problem

Workplace Harassment

Too Often Goes Unreported

There is a Compelling Business Case For Stopping and Preventing Harassment

27

Between FY2010 to FY2017, employers paid

$949.7 million during EEOC’s pre-litigation

enforcement process to employees alleging

harassment.

28

Reputational harm

Job turnover

Health and workplace

productivity of the target

of harassment

Indirect Financial Costs

Health and workplace

productivity of coworkers who witness harassment

29

The Perils of the Superstar Harasser

Employers often make a wrong cost-benefit analysis when faced with allegations of harassment against a highly valued employee.

Employers are often tempted to ignore misconduct for fear of cost to the organization.

In reality, the cost of allowing harassment to go unchecked is higher than the cost of losing a highly valued employee.

It Starts at the Top

31

Leadership: It Starts at the Top

Authenticity: Workers believe that leaders mean what they say.

Values: Leaders believe harassment is wrong and should not occur in the workplace. Leaders convey a sense of urgency in stopping and preventing harassment. Lemon drops oat cake oat

cake sugar cake

Lemon drops oat cake oat cake sugar

cake

Accountability: Leaders address harassment in a swift, effective, and proportionate manner. Leadership holds managers accountable for stopping harassment.

Awareness: Leadership knows about the prevalence of workplace harassment: e.g., via climate surveys.

Training Must Change

Problems with Traditional Harassment Prevention Training

Training is often done in a vacuum, not as part of a holistic harassment prevention effort.

There is some really bad training out there.

Training is sometimes done primarily to avoid legal liability.

33

Good Training

Training is essential, but it needs to be the right training. Compliance training is critical and new types of training hold promise.

34

advice to those concerned about how

doing business in the climate of #MeToo

can affect them: • 1.) Take complaints seriously and investigate

• 2.) Establish an anti-harassment policy

More advice to those concerned about

how doing business in the climate of

#MeToo can affect them: • 3.) Get training, rinse, repeat

• 4.) Establish a reporting protocol

• 5.) Use the Grandma Test

Civility

Be kind, for everyone you meet

is fighting a hard battle.

-- Plato or someone else

At age 14, George Washington compiled a list of

“110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour”…

Rule #6 –

Sleep not when others speak…

Sit not when others stand,

Speak not when you should hold your peace,

Walk not on when others stop.

Workplace Civility

The Law & Liability

• Hostile Work Environment • Title VII

• Unwelcome behavior

related to a “protected class”

• Discriminatory Behavior

EEOC Guidelines

• Hostile or offensive work environment

• When harassment is so pervasive that the working

conditions are unduly oppressive • Applies to harassment based on any of the “protected

classes”

• Harris v. Forklift Systems

• Quid pro quo

• An employee’s submission to unwelcome sexual

advances is an express or implied condition for

receiving job benefits or the employee’s refusal to

submit results in a job detriment • “This for that”

• Applies to sexual harassment

Civility

•Civility’s defining characteristic is its ties

• to city and society. The Latin civitas means city,

especially in the sense of civic community.

Life is a Relational Experience

•The quality of our lives depends on the quality of our relationships.

•Whether we like it or not, we are wax upon which others leave their mark.

•Pier Massimo Forni

Social Skills Strengthen

Social Bonds

Our happiness depends on the health and strength of our

social bonds.

Social skills are a main determinant of our destiny.

Civility, far from being trivial or marginal to our lives is an

extraordinarily effective tool for the building of a better,

more meaningful, and healthier life.

P M Forni

Defining Civility

•Civility is a form of benevolent

awareness.

Respect

Restraint

Consideration

The Three Arguments for Civility

Principle of Respect for Persons

Connection between Incivility and Violence

Civility as a Quality of Life issue

Examples of Workplace Incivility

Interrupting others without care

Not listening

Disrupting meetings, inappropriate behavior at meetings

Rumoring, gossiping about or damaging a co-worker’s reputation

Perching impatiently over someone’s desk, waiting for undivided attention

Quoted from Envisonworks, Inc.

Dealing with Difficult Co-Workers

People are difficult because they either have too high or too low an opinion of themselves.

Suggest you need the person’s help to solve the problem.

Try to build the confidence of the difficult person.

Choose your battles.

Talk to a supervisor or Human Resources if the problem persists.

Effects of Workplace Incivility

Lowered morale of the employees

Reduced workplace citizenship behaviors (littering, carelessness with handling equipment and facilities, not taking care of others, etc.)

Reduced team effectiveness

Being uncivil to customers, clients, or others outside the immediate organization, office or facility

http://www.citehr.com/

Your Personal Outlook: “Life-Enhancer” or “Well-Poisoner”

Are others hearing

from you:

what you can’t do

what you don’t have

what won’t work

Or are they hearing:

what you can do

what you do have

what will work

Half empty Half full

Workplace Civility

What is “Civility”? Clearly, civility has to mean something more than

mere politeness. The movement will have

accomplished little if all it does is get people to

say, “excuse me please”, while they (figuratively)

stab you in the back. Civility also cannot mean

“roll over and play dead.”

- - The Meaning of Civility

Guy & Heidi Burgess, 1997

CIVILITY

• Politeness

• Respect

• Affirmation

• Morality

• Connection

• Accountability

• Assertiveness

• The Golden Rule

• Manners

• Tolerance

• Self-Restraint

• Focus

• Public Health

• Quality of Life

Negative Behaviors

• Behavior whose purpose is to control, insult, humiliate, denigrate, embarrass, or injure the dignity of colleagues

• Scape-goating

• Backstabbing

• Constant complaining

• Perpetuating rumors

• Being expected to do another’s work (clean up after them)

• Behaviors which undermine team cohesion, staff morale, self worth and safety

• Unethical or dishonest behavior

• Ineffective, nonproductive forms of conflict resolution,

• Repeated failure to respond to requests

• Lack of respect, and/or

• Cultural bias

So What is a Microaggression?

Microaggression: Subtle, verbal and nonverbal slights,

insults, indignities, and denigrating messages directed

toward an individual due to their group identity, often

automatically and unconsciously. Usually committed by

well-intentioned folks who are unaware of the hidden

messages being communicated.

So What is a Microaggression?

Microaggressions are similar to carbon monoxide -

“invisible, but potentially lethal” - continuous exposure to

these type of interactions “can be a sort of death by a

thousand cuts to the victim”

Sue, (2010) Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and

Sexual Orientation.

56

Why can't we all just get along?

“If we leave the human factor out

of our business calculations,

we shall be wrong every time.” -William H. Lever,

founder of Lever Brothers

www.tncwr.org

Business Case for Civility

Recruiting

Productivity

Retention

Customer Service

Presenteeism

Morale

Communication

Bottom Line

Costs

Waste

Customer complaints

Absenteeism

Accidents

Lost productivity

The Costs of Incivility

Turnover

What words come to mind, when you think of incivility?

Decencies – Not so Common

www.tncwr.org

•Cursing

•Threats

•Sabotage

•Lying

•Complaining

•Belittling

•Intimidation

•Interrupting

•Checking phone during meetings

•Threats

•Rudeness

•Bullying

•Dirty looks

•Condescending comments

•Disruptive at meetings

•Public reprimands – makes me cringe

•Silent treatment

•Nasty emails

•Undermining colleagues credibility

Why are we reading about incivility in the

workplace more now than ever?

Employment market

Egos

Stress

Politics

Competition

Jealousy

Insecurity

Hidden agendas

Low self esteem

Emotions

Prima dona’s – thinking rules don’t apply to them

Problems at home

the way we have always done it!

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_u8sF1sW4A

Broken Window Theory

www.tncwr.org

Counterproductive Workplace

Behaviors Continuum

Incivility Bullying Violence

Harassment

Discrimination

Hostile Environment

Bullying

Civility

www.tncwr.org

Don’t Cross the Line

The wrongly accused question

• employers conduct a fair, thorough, and even-handed

investigation of sexual harassment allegations

• an investigation that is as fair to the alleged harasser as it

is to the alleged victim.

• BUT the percent of men wrongly accused is low so lets

fix the bigger problem first

Legal 80%

Illegal 20%

80% of bullying is legal, but still occurs.

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Protected Categories

Race National Origin Color

Religion Disability Religion Disability Sex Age 40+

c o lo r

How to Create a Civil Workplace

• Create a vision

• Create systematic plan of action

• Make the case

• Involve employees

• Core values

• Policies and codes of conduct

www.tncwr.org

• Train

• Conflict management

• Conflict resolution

• Stress management

• Teamwork

• Interpersonal Communication

www.tncwr.org

How to Create a Civil Workplace

- Implementation

• Leaders model civility for others

• Branding

• Continual communication

• Put it in writing

www.tncwr.org

How to Create a Civil Workplace

- Implementation

Coaching for Change

The following Coaching tips can assist employees in

being proactive in promoting respect and civility:

1. Focus on others’ needs & consider how

your words & actions will impact others

before you speak or act.

Approach each interaction with respect, regardless of

whether you believe that the other person’s behaviors

“earn” or even elicit that respect.

• 2. Be intentional in your communications.

• Plan to listen to the other person without interruption &

practice effective listening skills.

• 3. Become a bridge builder & act in a

manner that creates an inclusive work

environment.

• Look for various ways to have diversity in work teams and

committees as well as in individual associations

• 4. Appreciate the value of diverse opinions in

developing approaches to varying situations.

• Recognize that it does not equate to agreement if you listen,

clarify what was said, and ask questions to gain an

understanding of others’ opinions.

• 5. Understand that conflicts will occur in the

workplace & take responsibility for your

actions, regardless of the situation.

• Take time to understand your triggers or “hot buttons.”

• 6. Guard against acting impulsively based

on negative assumptions about another’s

intent, as that can lead to damaged

relationships.

• Take time to analyze relevant facts and to reconsider your

assumptions.

• 7. Avoid tendencies to become caught up in

gossip, complaining, or other forms of

negativity in day-to-day interactions.

• Be mindful of the following quote by Ruth Anne Crouse,

“What Peter tells me about Paul tells me more about Peter

than it tells me about Paul.”

Recognize that your actions will influence how others perceive

you.

• 8. View today’s difficult situations from a

broader & more realistic perspective by

considering what they mean relative to the

overall scheme of things.

• Ask yourself questions such as, “How will I look back on these

circumstances in a week, month, or year?”

•

• 9. Be supportive of your organization in your

communications both inside & outside of the

workplace.

• Ensure that any comments that you make place the

organization (including departments and individuals) in a

positive yet realistic light.

• 10. Pay attention to how respectful you are in

your communications and other actions on an

ongoing basis.

• Rate yourself (for instance, on a scale of 1-10) periodically after

interactions to measure your success and to identify

opportunities for improvement.

Jim Taylor, a psychologist at the University of San Francisco, writing in the Huffington

Post, contends that:

“Civility is about something far more important than how

people comport themselves with others.

Rather, civility is an expression of a fundamental

understanding and respect for the laws, rules, and norms

(written and implicit) that guide its citizens in

understanding what is acceptable and

unacceptable behavior.

Making this work for your organization

• Understand and respect individual differences:

• Keep an open mind toward others who are different from you.

Remember that not everyone sees things the same way you do.

Important Steps!

Playing Nice with Others

All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten http://www.robertfulghum.com/

Play Nice!

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten http://www.robertfulghum.com/

Finish this statement A woman’s place is in the ______________

The next

Equal Pay Day

is April , 2019.

This date symbolizes

how far into 2019

women must work

To earn what men earned earned in 2018

Expansion of Rights Under Selected State Laws:

10/06/15 California

10/21/15 New York

05/19/16 Maryland

08/01/16 Massachusetts

97

Gender in the U.S.

Breadwinner A traditional gender role found in the US that views

males as being responsible for the economic support and protection of the family.

Housewife A traditional gender role found in the US that views

females as responsible for child-rearing and domestic activities.

#solveharassment Report available at:

www.eeoc.gov/task_force/

harassment/report.cfm

Preventing Harassment through Systemic Enforcement &Targeted Outreach

Rebooting Harassment Prevention

Harassment continues to be

one of the most frequently

raised complaint—

• over 30% of all private

sector cases

• 43% of Federal sector cases

A Bipartisan Effort

Employers should

consider Workplace

Civility Training and

Bystander

Intervention Training.

An It’s On Us

campaign in the

workplace

could be a

game changer.

Findings

Workplace

harassment

remains a

persistent

problem.

Workplace

harassment

too often goes

unreported.

Employers

need

compliance

training that is

effective.

There is a

compelling

business case

for preventing

harassment.

Leadership and

accountability

can prevent

harassment.

The good news:

We have some

creative ideas.

Workplace risk

factors should be

evaluated.

Training is

important, but it

needs to be

the right

training.

Check out the Checklists!

https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/task_force/harassment/upload/report.pdf

Appendix B: Checklists for Employers

1. Leadership & Accountability p. 79

2. Anti-Harassment Policy p. 80

3. Reporting Procedures & Investigations p. 81

4. Compliance Training p. 82

Homogeneous workforces

Workplaces where some

workers do not conform to

workplace norms

Cultural and language

differences in the workplace

Workforces with many young

workers

Workplaces that rely on customer service or client

satisfaction

Decentralized workplaces

Workplaces with significant power

disparities

Workplaces where work is

monotonous or consists of low-intensity tasks

Workplace cultures that tolerate or

encourage alcohol consumption

Isolated workspaces

Workplaces with ‘high value’ employees

Coarsened social discourse outside

the workplace

How does your workplace compare? Check out Appendix C: Risk Factors & Responses for strategies to reduce harassment

https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/task_force/harassment/upload/report.pdf

Prevalence of Sex-Based Harassment Varying Definitions

Most Conservative

Estimate

25% of women experience

“sexual harassment,” if not

defined in the survey.

25% 40%

More Accurate Estimate

40% of women experience

unwanted sexual attention or

sexual coercion, even if they

don’t label it as “sexual

harassment.”

60%

Most Accurate

Estimate

60% of women

experience unwanted

sexual attention or sexual

coercion, OR sexually

crude conduct or sexist

comments in the

workplace.

104

Harassment is HUGELY UNDER-REPORTED

Upwards of 85% of

people never file a

formal legal charge.

Approximately 70%

of employees never

even complain

internally.

85% 70%

105

Common Responses to Harassment

Avoid the harasser

Downplay the gravity of

the situation

Attempt to forget

the harassment

Endure the behavior

Leave the job, if one can

Seek support from

family & friends

106

IT’S ON US- IN THE WORKPLACE

Employees should feel a sense of

collective responsibility &

empowerment

to stop harassment at work.

EEOC wants to act as a catalyst

to help launch an

“It’s on Us” campaign

in the workplace.

Resourc

es

• Webershandwick.com. Civility in America 2011. Weber Shandwick. Powell Tate. KRC Research.

• Harvard Business Review. The Price of Incivility. Christine Porath and Christine Pearson. Jan. 26,

2013.

• HR Times Magazine. 7 Steps to a Bully-Free Workplace: Deliver a culture of civility to your organization

& sustain the positive change. Catherine Michael Mattice, M.A. 4th Quarter, Vol 3, Issue 4.

• www.NoWorkplaceBullies.com

• Human Resource Development Quarterly. Managing Workplace Incivility: The role of Conflict

Management Styles - Antecedent or Antidote? Jeannie Trudel, Thomas G. Reio Jr. Vol. 22, no. 4,

Winter 2011. Wiley Periodicals.

• Academy of Management Review. Unseen Justice: Incivility as modern discrimination in organizations.

Cortina L.M. 2008. 71.

• Hreonline.com. How Rude. Jared Shelly, July 29, 2013.

• WashingtonPost.com. Joyce E.A. Russell. Cultivating civility in the workplace. June 17, 2012.

• SHRM.org. Managing Difficult Employees and Disruptive Behaviors. Toolkits. 4/10/12.

• SHRM HR Magazine. Incivility Rising. Donna M. Owens. Vol. 57 No.2. 2/1/12.

• www.Civilitypartners.com

• Journal of Business and Psychology. The impact of organizational culture on attraction and recruitment

of job applicants. Catanzaro, D., Moore, H., & Marshall, T.R. (2010). 25 (4), 649-662.

• The Tipping Point. Malcolm Gladwell, Jan. 7, 2002. Back Bay Books.

• The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why It Matters. Michael Burchell and

Jennifer Robin. Jan. 4, 2011. Jossey-Bass.

• The Manager’s Book of Decencies. Steve Harrison. 2007. Adecco Management and Consulting.

www.tncwr.org

Contact Information & Resources

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Joe Bontke M.Ed. Education & Outreach Coordinator

713 907 2855 cell

713 651 4994 Desk

joe.bontke@eeoc.gov

@EEOC_Houston

Toll-free: 1-800-669-4000

TTY: 1-800-669-6820

www.eeoc.gov

eeoc.traininginstitute@eeoc.gov