What started with the fall of a Hollywood icon, has reached the halls of Congress, and into every workplace nationwide.
Powerful men accused of using their position to sexually harass subordinate women. We’ve seen men like Matt Lauer lose their jobs but now the question is, what change is happening among managers.
We hear in the media that all these stories have company leaders shaking and coming to grips with the fact they must make changes quickly.
“It’s a power struggle,” said Arthur Schofield, who represents employees in disputes., “It’s a power demonstration.”
But now the powerful are falling and it doesn’t just boil down to media and politics.
“Is it cultural? Probably but you can have ever bit of that kind of behavior in a Mcdonalds, in a restaurant, in a Walmart, or a Target,” said Robyn Hankins, an attorney who represents employees and companies. “Anywhere people work together and there are differences in power.”
It has now left people wondering what exactly crosses the line?
“Not all sexual behavior in the workplace is offensive,” she said. “Many, many people meet their spouse in the workplace. There is dating within the workplace that’s not sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is unwanted, unwelcome sexual behavior that is towards you.”
Human Resources executive, Aimee Kay, who now heads up Sageview consulting, and was in charge of HR for Madison Square Gardens for 20 years, said victims have to know where to turn for help.
“As we all know, everyone doesn’t always read those policies even though they sign off on them,” she said. “So in my mind, the best defense is anyone who is being sexually harassed knows where to go and what they’re supposed to do.”
Some experts say this all comes down to company culture. If you are told not to complain, that can be a difficult habit to break.
