Sexual Harassment and What Employers Must Do to Comply

The latest headlines confirm the 2016 findings published by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that workplace harassment too often goes unreported. The EEOC reports that “approximately 70% of the individuals who experienced harassment never even talked with a supervisor or manager,” meaning that they didn’t report it to their employer. The EEOC found the most common response of any employee who experienced sexual harassment was not to report it but to avoid the harasser, or ignore or attempt to forget the behavior. The reason for not reporting it was that the victim feared they would not be believed, they would be blamed or ostracized, or that they would be retaliated against.