In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court once again reviewed the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. Its unanimous decision in favor of the woman who claimed to be a victim of sexual harassment at work, in Harris v. Forklift Systems, guaranteed that the issue will remain a high priority in labor-management relations. This research examines the development of sexual harassment and employer liability and responsibility. The difficulties of a legal definition are explored, along with the rights for victims that have thus far been established.
There is a widespread consensus that sexual harassment is a serious problem. The sheer specter of risking or losing one's livelihood because of sexual harassment by an employer or supervisor is abhorrent to most people. Not only is sexual harassment at the workplace morally reprehensible, it can also be emotionally stressful and economically costly to employee and employer alike. Surveys of the extent of incidences of workplace harassment vary widely. One survey by Redbook magazine in 1976 found that 90 percent of women respondents had been sexually harassed at least once; more recent surveys in the late 1980s and early 1990s reported rates of harassment affecting between 50 percent and 80 percent of working women. Clearly, the problem is pervasive.
Given the special status of this problem in the workplace, much of the responsibility for curtailing sexual harassment has been placed upon employers. It is a burden that employers should not ignore. The emotional and psychological stress that often accompanies sexual harassment costs employers dearly in terms of lower productivity, absenteeism, high turnover rates and poor morale. Dr. Freada Klein, a researcher and business consultant, has estimated that the cost of sexual harassment for a typical Fortune 500 company of about 24,000 employees is more than $6.7 million annually from reduced productivity and employee turnover, not including the c...