• Train employees and supervisors on the definition, company policies, and consequences of unlawful harassment in the workplace.
• Supervisors should be trained to take every harassment complaint seriously.

Employers must take appropriate steps to prevent and correct unlawful harassment in the workplace. Training employees and supervisors is usually the first step in creating a workplace free from harassment. Training usually includes guidance on what constitutes harassment, the company’s policies for preventing harassment, and the consequences for violating the policies.

The general definition of unlawful harassment is unwelcome conduct that is directed at someone in a protected class, and is severe and pervasive enough to interfere with the person’s work performance.

The key issues governing whether unwelcome conduct creates an unlawful hostile environment are:

• Context,
• Frequency,
• Severity, and
• The “reasonable person” standard.

Supervisors should be trained to identify each key area. Doing so may enable workers to prevent jokes or comments in poor taste from becoming harassment. Supervisors have a duty to properly and immediately address the conduct, and it goes beyond just making a note in a file. Regardless of the nature of the complaint, supervisors need to be taught to reassure the person coming forward that doing so was the right thing, and that the complaint will be taken seriously.

Supervisors should never dismiss a complaint based on assumptions that it’s unfounded, even if a previous relationship, personality conflict, or other past events may affect judgment about the credibility of a complaint. Supervisors should document the complaint and provide assurance that retaliation will not be tolerated, and remind the person that the company needs to know about any future acts so it can take further discipline or address the retaliation.