e case in Florida (Kruger, 1995).
So-called quid pro quo harassment, where a supervisor demands sexual favors in exchange for a job benefit, is clearly sexual harassment and can be identified in an employee handbook as such. Such measures can help protect a company and can help employees understand the policies of the company. However, sexual jokes can be taken one way by some women, and another way by other women, with the result that some women are offended and consider this harassment, while other women are not offended and would not consider the jokes in the same way (Mooty, 2002).
Although possible civil litigation is a strong reason for companies are concerned about sexual harassment, many have come to recognize that such behavior hurts the company's overall performance. For example, a survey of companies revealed that harassment costs a typical large company approximately $6.7 million annually in absenteeism, turnover and productivity losses. This indicates that companies that are never involved in a sexual harassment lawsuit can still suffer ill effects as a result of sexual harassment in the work place (Zachary, 1998).
SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES
The human resource department is typically the first recourse of women who feel they have been harassed. While the area of sexual harassment is fairly new, there are some standards emerging in the field.
Experts stress confidentiality in the workplace, in part to prevent additional discrimination as a result of someone bringing charges against another employee (Holland, 2003). While the human resource department attempts to be objective in its investigation of sexual harassment charges, it keeps a careful record of the investigation in order that it protects the company's interests--which are separate from both the employee's and manager's interests--in case of litigation in the future.
Above all else, companies are increasingly willing to fire emplo...