• Employers should immediately respond to and investigate all claims of sexual harassment. The goal should be to protect the victim.
• Designate a person outside of an employee’s chain of command to take harassment complaints.
• If sexual harassment has occurred, remedial or disciplinary action should be taken.

When an employee comes to the employer with a claim that the individual was sexually harassed, the way a company responds may have a direct impact on the outcome of the situation. Do not ignore the claim — take all complaints seriously.

Designate someone to take complaints

The company should designate at least one official outside of an employee’s chain of command to take harassment complaints. For example, someone in the HR department could be authorized to handle complaints.

Allowing an employee to bypass the individual’s chain of command provides additional assurance that the complaint will be handled in an impartial manner. An employee who reports harassment by a supervisor may feel that officials within the chain of command will more readily believe the supervisor’s version of events.

Investigate all claims

One of the first steps in an investigation is a meeting between the person responsible for the investigation (the designated official outside of an employee’s chain of command) and the victim. In this meeting, which should take place where the conversation cannot be overheard, the victim should explain what happened.

The person designated to take complaints should interview any witnesses to the events, including other employees and supervisors. Those people may already be aware of problem situations. If employers observe harassing conduct, stop it immediately. Then take time to record the date, time, name of the harasser, the harassing conduct, and any possible victims.

Remedial or disciplinary action

If the investigation determines that sexual harassment occurred, remedial or disciplinary measures should be taken. A company should have a policy and procedure established for dealing with this type of situation. The measures do not have to be those that the employee requests or prefers, as long as the measures are effective. Remedial measures are designed to:

• Stop the harassment,
• Correct its effect on the employee, and
• Ensure that the harassment does not recur.

Remedial measures should not adversely affect the victim. If it is necessary to separate the employees involved, the harasser should be transferred or suspended. Do not transfer the victim, unless the person requests a transfer.