2017Issue4_Alabama_v3_COVER_Proof

The number of sexual harassment cases reported in the U.S. (and Canada) increased by 58 percent since the Hill testimony and continues to climb. At the same time, private companies and agencies also responded by launching training programs to deter sexual harassment. Mary Kasper, General Counsel and Secretary for Unified Grocers, Inc., recalls the Hill testimony and how it raised awareness among “rank-and-file” employees. “We all went through this phase, back then, where we overreacted, when we were overly careful about what we did and didn’t do,” she remembers. “We were careful not to compliment a man on his tie or hug a co-worker.”

against women, women filing against other women and men filing against men. “This is what a diverse workplace brings,” she says. “As women rise through the ranks, it’s not necessarily true that women who rise to senior positions are less likely to behave badly than men.” Unified’s general counsel says what makes the grocery industry so unique is that its workplace is more diverse. “That makes it fun, but also makes for a more sensitized workplace,” she says. “So what has changed, are more hostile work environment claims and they’re far more nuanced. People are more sensitive about what they do and say but also people are more sensitive about what they perceive

O’Reilly denied the reports and Fox stood by their award-winning host as the story heated up. The O’Reilly Factor was cable television’s most popular, and likely among the most profitable, news show. O’Reilly still maintains his innocence. The late Roger Ailes, former Fox CEO, was also accused of sexual harassment and resigned from his post when a high-profile Fox anchor sued him last year. As this story goes to press, it is estimated that Fox will spend more than $45 million in costs related to harassment-related litigation – in addition to those costly severance payouts to O’Reilly and Ailes. Three more claims were filed by employees against Fox News in late May, including one woman who alleges she was both sexually harassed and physically threatened by a former radio news anchor. The O’Reilly story was gripping, dramatic and made for sensational headlines. Harassment lawsuits in the grocery industry may not hold nearly the same intrigue, however, understanding new nuances in the law, and being mindful of the dramatic impact any related online campaign can add to the risk is important. A company’s reputation, once lost, can be challenging to recover. The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) states that “It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person’s sex.” According to the EEOC, harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. The legal definition of sexual harassment varies by state jurisdiction. While most agree the contemporary notion of sexual harassment was conceived in the early 1970s, it was the 1991 testimony of Anita Hill against then-U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Judge Clarence Thomas, that did a great deal to propel awareness.

“Nowadays the trainings are more interactive, demonstrate subtleties; you have to engage on what you would do.”

Kasper says recent news events may have rekindled sensitivities around the harassment issue. “There’s this weird irony again,” she adds. “People are talking about Anita Hill again.” But the truth is employers have invested in raising awareness and providing sexual harassment trainings for going on three decades and, while several high-profile cases have dominated news cycles recently, Kasper suggests the number of sexual harassment claims for the food industry haven’t changed much. “There are very few ‘quid pro quo’ cases – like those alleged in the O’Reilly case,”

and what they hear. “If you are my supervisor and you say something to me that’s inappropriate, now the law looks at how it was perceived by me,” she adds. “In the last five years or so there’s been a lot of conversation around intent vs. impact.” And, says Kasper, a new class of harassment claim is on the rise: bullying. “Bullying claims are on the rise and we’ve trained our people to recognize it when they see it,” says Kasper. “By bullying, we don’t mean ‘my boss is mean to me’ or ‘they didn’t let me sit at the lunch table.’ It’s much more than that. We have to be careful about excluding people from conversations and projects which could ultimately lead to their career development.”

she says. “Gone are the days of only women filing claims against men.”

Kasper says the industry is seeing claims that aren’t the classic women-filing-harassment- claims-against-men. Instead, men are filing

Companies are doing so much more to prepare and manage the threat of

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