Jan. 8, 2018 "What do you do if someone makes a false sexual- harassment allegation against you?": Today I found this article in the Globe and Mail:
THE QUESTION
As a male manager hiring female college students for restaurant patio work in the summer, I am concerned about the recent wave of sexual-harassment allegations. Our interviews are conducted one-on-one in a closed office. If even one candidate accuses me of extending so-called unwanted attention or of making a sexual advance, could I be fired? What can men do to protect themselves in interview situations? Is there a legal recourse when someone makes a false allegation?
THE FIRST ANSWER
George Cottrelle
Partner, Keel Cottrelle LLP, Toronto
There has been a seismic shift in society's intolerance of workplace sexual harassment, which has resulted in significant changes in employers' responses to allegations of workplace sexual harassment.
Workplace sexual harassment is prohibited under applicable Canadian human rights codes and workplace safety legislation. Persons applying and interviewing for jobs are entitled to protection from workplace sexual harassment under the applicable human rights codes.
Workplace sexual harassment is serious employee misconduct, in violation of an employee's duties under their employment relationship, and applicable workplace policies. Depending upon the nature of the misconduct in question, a single incident of workplace sexual harassment can constitute grounds for immediate dismissal.
Employers need to follow their workplace harassment policies, but, in any event, should investigate allegations of workplace sexual harassment. If your employer terminates your employment based on allegations of workplace sexual harassment that are not investigated and substantiated, or that do not constitute cause at law, then you may have recourse against your employer for damages for wrongful dismissal.
The best protection for employees to avoid allegations of workplace sexual harassment is to be vigilant and ensure that their workplace conduct and practices are compliant with their legal duties and workplace policies.
The closed-door, one-on-one interviews by you with college students for summer patio positions are potentially problematic, and your practice needs to change. Ideally, you should include another co-worker in the interviews, but at a minimum, the interviews should take place in a more public setting.
THE SECOND ANSWER
Eleanor James
Senior communications consultant, The James Thinkstitute, Toronto
Be responsible for your own behaviour. There's a line there, don't cross it.
You're hiring and interviewing young women for jobs. It'll be the job they want, not advances from a man they don't know. I was in this spot myself, age 18. After a 10-minute private interview with the restaurant manager, he asked me to stand and turn around. I said no and left.
I told my father who said, "Good for you!" I thank him for that respect, a lot, still.
I recommend talking with your colleagues about interview procedures so everyone is on the same professional page. This question is sadly common. We know from all sorts of stories in the news that making an accusation of sexual misconduct is no walk in the park for the accuser either.
Build yourself a reputation as a gentleman. Speak without sexual innuendo, no leering, or touching, know where your eyes are, and stick to business. Don't shortchange yourself with shabby behaviour.
Oct. 13, 2017 "The effects of sexual-harassment scandals": Today I found this article by Claire Cain Miller in the Globe and Mail:
Women in some workplaces are being deprived of a chance at promotion as men avoid one-on-one contact over fear of accusations
In Silicon Valley, some male investors have declined one- on-one meetings with women, or rescheduled them from restaurants to conference rooms.
On Wall Street, certain senior men have tried to avoid closed door meetings with junior women. And in TV news, some male executives have scrupulously minded their words in conversations with female talent.
In interviews, the men describe a heightened caution because of recent sexual-harassment cases, and they worry that one accusation, or misunderstood comment, could end their careers. But their actions affect women’s careers, too – potentially depriving them of the kind of relationships that lead to promotions or investments.
It’s an unintended consequence of a season of sex scandals. Research shows that building genuine relationships with senior people is perhaps the most important contributor to career advancement. In some offices it’s known as having a rabbi; researchers call it sponsorship.
Unlike mentors, who give advice and are often formally assigned, sponsors know and respect people enough that they are willing to find opportunities for them, and advocate and fight for them.
But women are less likely to build such relationships, in part because both senior men and junior women worry that a relationship will be misread by others. At every level, more men than women say they interact with senior leaders at least once a week, according to research by McKinsey and the non-profit Lean In.
This imbalance is a major reason women stall at lower levels of companies, according to a variety of research.
“We found that they avoided one-on-one contact because they were fearful of gossip, or the suspicion that a standout female on a team is sleeping with the team leader,” said Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founder and chief executive of the Center for Talent Innovation, a research firm that has studied sponsorship.
She noted that sponsors “have to spend some capital and take a risk on the up-and-coming person, and you simply don’t do that unless you know them and trust them.” But these relationships are crucial, she said, for “getting from the middle to the top.”
Certain workplaces have become more tense in recent months, after high-profile sexual-harassment cases at Fox News, in venture capital and elsewhere, and after the vulgar comments about women by Donald Trump that emerged during the presidential campaign.
Most recently, accusations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein caused him to be fired.
The Society for Human Resource Management, an industry group, said it saw a spike in questions from members about sexual harassment in March – when cases at Uber, Fox News and military academies were in the news – and in August, when harassment surfaced again at Fox, in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.
In some cases, the heightened awareness has improved people’s behaviour. “People are more sensitive to how they conduct themselves, because they’ve seen what can happen,” said a male executive in the news and entertainment industry, who spoke anonymously because of the same heightened caution over the topic that is in the air in some workplaces. “That’s presented a better working environment.”
But elsewhere, men have begun avoiding solo interactions with women altogether. In Austin, a city official was formally reprimanded last month for refusing to meet with female employees, after he ended regular mentoring lunches with one.
Some tech investors have taken similar steps. “A big chill came across Silicon Valley in the wake of all these stories, and people are hyperaware and scared of behaving wrongly, so I think they’re drawing all kinds of parameters,” said a venture capitalist who spoke anonymously for the same reason.
Some are avoiding solo meetings with female entrepreneurs, potential recruits and those who ask for an informational or networking meeting.
“Before, you might have said, ‘Of course I would do that, and I will especially do it for minorities, including women in Silicon Valley,’ ” the investor said. “Now you cancel it because you have huge reputational risk all of a sudden.”
Sometimes women avoid solo meetings with men who have made them uncomfortable or have bad reputations, as when female executives brought colleagues to meetings with Weinstein.
It has not happened in every workplace, of course, and depends in part on company culture and employees’ trust in human resources to appropriately deal with harassment. In interviews with people across industries, many said interacting with members of the opposite sex was a non-issue.
People were warier in jobs that emphasized appearance, as with certain restaurants or TV networks; in male-dominated industries such as finance; and in jobs that involve stark power imbalances, such as doctors or investors.
Dr. Mukund Komanduri, 50, an orthopedic surgeon with a practice outside Chicago, said he avoids being alone with female colleagues, particularly those he does not know well or who are subordinates.
“I’m very cautious about it because my livelihood is on the line,” he said. “If someone in your hospital says you had inappropriate contact with this woman, you get suspended for an investigation, and your life is over. Does that ever leave you?”
He mentioned a hospital colleague who lost his job because of harassment allegations. “That individual has created a hypersensitive atmosphere for every other physician,” he said. “We basically stand 10 feet away from everyone we know.”
Even before the recent attention on harassment, the practice of avoiding solo meetings with colleagues of the opposite sex was not uncommon. It could mean not sharing in cabs, travel, lunches, projects or get-togethers over coffee, and not meeting behind closed doors.
Nearly two-thirds of men and women say people should take extra caution around members of the opposite sex at work, and about a quarter think private work meetings with colleagues of the opposite sex are inappropriate, according to a poll conducted in May by Morning Consult for The New York Times.
The effect on women’s careers is quantifiable, research has found.
Women with sponsors are more likely to get challenging assignments and raises and to say they are satisfied with their career progress, according to data from the Center for Talent Innovation.
Yet, 64 per cent of senior men and 50 per cent of junior women avoid solo interactions because of the risk of rumors about their motives, according to a survey by the centre.
Good sponsors also give candid, difficult feedback, and women are less likely than men to receive it, McKinsey and Lean In found.
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