• A company should take measures against harassers to protect employees.
• Measures should also be taken to help restore a safe and secure workplace for the victim.

When a company determines a person is guilty of sexual harassment, remedial or disciplinary measures can include:

• Oral or written warning or reprimand,
• Training or counseling the harasser to ensure that it is clear why the conduct violated the law and/or company anti-harassment policy,
• Monitoring the harasser to ensure that the harassment stops,
• Transfer or reassignment,
• Demotion,
• Reduction of wages,
• Suspension, and/or
• Discharge.

After the guilty party has been appropriately reprimanded, consider the victim’s needs. Try to find ways to restore the sense of a safe and secure workplace. Some measures employers should consider taking include:

• Restoring leave taken because of the harassment,
• Removing negative evaluation(s) in employee’s personnel file that arose from the harassment,
• Reinstating the employee,
• Having the harasser apologize (only do this with the victim’s consent, as the person may not want further contact with the harasser),
• Monitoring employee’s treatment to ensure the person is not subjected to retaliation by the harasser or others because of the complaint, and
• Correcting any other harm caused, such as compensation for losses.

Whatever corrective actions employers choose to make, the actions should reflect the severity of the conduct. Under U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rules, management is required to correct the harassment situation, regardless of whether an employee files an internal complaint, as long as the conduct is clearly unwelcome.

A company may already have procedures in place for handling sexual harassment cases. If so, maintain a goal to uphold those procedures, help maintain the anonymity of the victim, and try to avert any future incidences.