Harassment Prevention Human Resources has a triple obligation to the: company and it’s leaders employees employment laws Company Employee Employment Laws Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 tells us that employers are: prohibited from hiring, refusing to hire, firing or lay off an individual due to his/her race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. And that employers cannot: make any attempt to segregate, classify, or limit the opportunities of any employees for reasons related to any of the above. This includes promotion, compensation, job training, or any other aspect of employment. Although not in the list: the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that sexual harassment is a form of unlawful sex discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act Harassment is unlawful under the Civil Rights Act where: enduring offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment, or the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.

Employer Liability Vicarious Liability 1. The employer is automatically liable for harassment by a supervisor that results in a negative employment action such as termination, failure to promote or hire, and loss of wages. If the supervisor’s harassment results in a hostile work environment, the employer can avoid liability only if it can prove that: It reasonably tried to prevent and promptly correct the harassing behavior; and The employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer. 2. The employer is liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees over whom it has control (e.g., independent contractors, physicians, members of the board, or customers on the premises), if it knew, or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Employers must be committed to providing a work environment that is free of sexual harassment. Employers must prohibit sexual harassment in any form, including verbal, physical, and visual harassment.

Harassment vs. Sexual Harassment What is the difference? Why are they both illegal?

What is Harassment? Harassment is defined as: Harassment is illegal: Unwelcome conduct based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information Offensive conduct that becomes a condition of continued employment Conduct that is severe or pervasive enough that a reasonable person would find the environment intimidating, hostile, and abusive Harassment is illegal: Under the Civil Rights Act Enforced by the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) Retaliation is illegal: Against anyone who is filing a good faith claim, testifying at a hearing, or participating in an investigation, proceeding or law suit.

What is Sexual Harassment? Sexual harassment is defined as: Discrimination based on gender Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature Illegal under the Civil Rights Act Enforced by the EEOC Victims can be men or women Can occur between members of opposite sex Can occur between members of same sex

Types of Harassment Quid Pro Quo Definition: Examples: When submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment When submission to, or rejection of, such contact by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting that individual “If you do this for me, I will do that for you.” Can come from individuals with authority or implied authority over a worker – must be imbalance of power Examples: A supervisor asks a staff member on a date. The staff member says “no”. The staff member begins to feel as though the supervisor is always riding him/her about something, and this did not happen before the supervisor asked him/her out. A supervisor asks a staff member out on a date, and the staff member accepts. All coworkers know they are dating. The staff member gets promoted, gets the best shift, etc.

Types of Harassment Hostile Environment Definition: Examples: When such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment Must interfere with work performance More difficult to prove than Quid Pro Quo – courts look at frequency and severity as criteria Courts consider whether a reasonable person would consider the behavior to be hostile Examples: A coworker begins to make sexual comments about another employee. The employee asks them to stop. The harasser begins to mutter insulting comments (sexual or non-sexual) whenever the employee is within hearing distance. The employee feels threatened and does not want to go near the harasser. The employee’s ability to do their job is greatly affected.

Types of Harassment Hostile Environment Other Examples: Discussing sexual activities Telling off-color jokes concerning race, sex, disability, or other protected bases Unnecessary touching Commenting on physical attributes Displaying sexually suggestive or racially insensitive pictures Using demeaning or inappropriate terms or epithets Using indecent gestures Using crude language Sabotaging the victim’s work Engaging in hostile physical conduct Hostile environment can also happen outside of sexual harassment. Example: Co-worker 1 has a different religious belief, a different ethnicity, or maybe he/she is disabled in some way. Co-worker 2 or a group of co-workers begin to tease co-worker 1 about certain aspects of their differences, which are protected by Title VII. The behavior continues, and co-worker 1 begins to miss work or his/her performance declines. The supervisor wants to give them a coaching or corrective action. Co-worker 1 claims hostile environment.

Harassment Prevention for Employees Our Harassment Prevention and Inspection Program is designed to ensure a safe environment for our employees and protect our hospital from claims of harassment or sexual harassment. The following steps are included in the Program: The Harassment policy and Program must be posted in the employee break rooms and in the Employee Manual. All employees are required to receive initial training and annually thereafter. Initial training must occur within first thirty days of employment. All supervisory staff must receive initial training for supervisors and annually thereafter.

The best prevention is… Effective Communication Management will: Communicate the Program and policy during staff meetings. Communicate individual employee responsibility for reporting and behavior. Document communication in meeting minutes.

What can EMPLOYEES do to be effective in the prevention of harassment? Employees can watch and listen… Report any sexual innuendo, obscene jokes, offensive email content, etc. to your supervisor. Hear it through the grapevine or another employee? If you hear about it, report it, don’t sit on it! Contact your supervisor or HR. Report any inappropriate behavior you witness. Employee responsibilities: Know and comply with our policies and procedures. Immediately report any incidents you witness to your supervisor. Do not talk about the incident with other employees. Cooperate with investigations. If you are the victim of any kind of harassment: Report to your supervisor, if possible If not possible to report to your supervisor, report to their supervisor If not possible to report to their supervisor, report to Human Resources

For questions and support, contact your HR Partners. Methodist Hospital for Surgery: Erik Leopard, Human Resources Manager, #3907, eleopard@methodistsurg.com Nueterra HR Partners: Marilyn Dawson, HR Business Partner, 913-387-0532, mdawson@nueterra.com Trudy Murray, HR Business Partner, 913-387-0527, tmurray@nueterra.com Keisha Patterson, HR Business Partner, 913-387-0524, kpatterson@nueterra.com Nikki Johnson, VP Human Resources, 913-387-0503, njohnson@nueterra.com Lori Carr, SVP, Human Resources, 913-387-0538, lcarr@nueterra.com