When is a behavior sexual harassment?: Answers

Here are the Test Yourself answers:

1. FALSE. Although a behavior isn’t legally considered harassment unless it is shown to be “pervasive,” HR must take every complaint seriously. Don’t wait until it’s pervasive to take action. Conduct a thorough investigation. And make sure you document the situation — even if you conclude that no illegal harassment occurred, or you determined it to be a minor infraction that doesn’t require formal discipline. Documenting everything can help you identify patterns down the road.
2. FALSE. Companies can be held accountable for their workers’ behavior regardless of where and when the potential harassment occurred, and whether the offensive content appeared on an employee’s own phone or tablet. HR professionals often question whether they can ask to review devices that aren’t company property, particularly if the behavior in question happened offsite. The answer is yes, if HR has reason to believe one employee acted inappropriately toward another. A review of the texts should be part of your formal investigation. However, while Rob is likely willing to share, there probably isn’t any recourse if an employee refuses to produce texts. In that case, move forward by collecting a statement from all parties involved.
3. TRUE. The fact that sexual harassment can be perpetrated by a company’s clients, customers, or any other segment of the public with whom employees interact often gets overlooked. For example, if a customer is being suggestive to a person bagging groceries, and the bagger subsequently reports the behavior to a supervisor, the store now has an obligation to protect this bagger from sexual harassment. This type of situation can be challenging for HR because businesses don’t want to stop serving customers. Sending this bagger outside to collect carts in the parking lot every time the customer is in the store, or switching the employee to a less desirable night shift because the shopper only shops in the morning could conceivably be regarded as retaliation.
4. FALSE. Callie should feel comfortable reporting this to HR, and her complaint should be taken seriously. The fact that Callie accepted Irv’s friend request doesn’t matter. Make sure policies clearly state that inappropriate behavior is in violation of the company’s harassment policy — or the law. It is the company’s responsibility to address these kinds of complaints to protect employees from harassment.
5. TRUE. This falls under whether or not a “reasonable person” would find the behavior acceptable in the workplace. While some employees may opt to tell Hal directly if they don’t like such contact, not everyone feels comfortable doing that, preferring to bring the concern to HR. So yes, it may be HR’s job to let Hal know the behavior is unwelcome.