12.07.09
Posted in Contact Us, Uncategorized at 8:27 pm by normarae2008
If you or a family member was a victim of sexual harassment prior to 1964 when Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was written, I’d like to hear from you. By the same token, if you’ve suffered sexual harassment since Title VII went into law I’d also like to talk with you.
I’m working on a new project in which I’m hoping to connect women from the 1960’s (and/or their relatives) when we didn’t have legal protections against sexual misconduct in the workplace, with women who have suffered the same offenses from 1964 well into the 21st century. What will we discuss? The environment, human behaviors, and workplace policies in comparison from then to now. What will we learn? We hope to learn how much or how little has changed in the workplace in spite of the laws to protect working men and women. How will we use this data? My goal is to collect all of the information and feedback and incorporate it into a book that in turn may help educate business and government on what still needs to be done to protect women in the workplace and improve Title VII protections.
Every case is unique and complicated. Every victim of sexual harassment has a different story to tell that is not a cookie cutter of someone else’s story. Every women has a right to tell her story and have it heard, and hopefully make a difference in our efforts to change the way we deal with sexual misconduct in today’s working environment. Women learn from each other’s experiences, and as a special niche group women who have suffered harassment have stories that are powerful and that collectively can change things. My goal is to gather up the power of these women and put it to use to affect change in how we manage corporate policies, codes of ethics, and develop new laws to protect the rights of men and women in the workplace.
If you were affected by the devastation of sexual harassment during those years, and are willing to share your story not only with me but with someone else who experienced similar job-related issues, I strongly encourage you to contact me either at this website or on my personal email posted above and/or at humancapitalachievement@hotmail.com. I sincerely hope to hear from you as we dig deeper to discover how much work we still may need to make in the education, awareness, and development of tougher laws to protect women and men against sexual harassment in the workplace. All of your comments and your name will remain confidential, so please do not fear contacting me. I sincerely hope to hear from you.
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05.21.09
Posted in Contact Us, Examples of Sexual Harassment at 8:47 pm by normarae2008
I encourage you to read an e-mail I received from a reader today. It’s listed in the “comments” section following “A Reader’s Question Regarding Sexual Harassment Training.” Her e-mail presents several allegations of workplace harassment, including unwanted touching, and retaliation. The sexual harassment was directed at other women besides herself, and she complained that her company culture does not work to investigate and resolve such complaints with a clear human resources policy and practice, but rather appears to hold the victims accountable and blames them for being trouble makers.
In her letter, she complained that another victim was forced to sign an Arbitration Agreement after she filed a sexual harassment complaint. When she refused, she was allegedly fired for being a trouble maker ( this occurred after the company slowly cut back her hours). This type of company response may appear to be retaliatory, and certainly was causing our reader to think twice about filing a complaint about the hostile work environment she was working in.
What complicated matters was that the Owner of the Company was also the Acting Head of Human Resources. So, where does one go to file a complaint in such a situation? As I told the reader in my comments back, if you can’t file a complaint internally, you can always contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but that must be done in a timely basis. Secondly, it is wise to consult a local labor attorney who specializes in workplace harassment. No one should suffer any form of discrimination, and Title VII was designed to protect all of us from any form of discrimination and workplace harassment. If you believe you’ve been unlawfully treated, get legal advice and protect your civil rights. No one should have to work in a corporate culture similar to the one my reader described. No one.
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Posted in Contact Us, Government Resources at 8:37 pm by normarae2008
Reprinted from an earlier blog entry in stopworkplaceharassment.com – EEOC Reports 15,000 New Sexual Harassment Cases Yearly
Posted in Recent Cases and Headlines, This Month’s Major Topics at 6:58 pm by normarae2008
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that there are approximately 15,000 new sexual harassment cases filed each year. What about the hundreds or thousands of cases that don’t get filed due to embarrassment, humiliation, loss of self-respect, fear of losing one’s job, retaliatory threats, or other concerns that keep women from filing complaints?
Many women are too fearful to file a complaint, and some don’t know the procedure. Human Resources organizations are oftentimes too short handed to provide the requisite training for management and for general employee populations to ensure that the laws are followed, so harassed employees are left no choice but to suffer in silence.
Have you been harassed and are afraid to report your treatment? We want to hear from you. We might be able to help you out with help and referrals for counseling, legal recommendations and education. Please write to us and tell your story. We’re just a click away.
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Posted in Contact Us, This Month's Major Topics at 8:12 pm by normarae2008
Sexual Harassment…Bullying…Verbal and Emotional Abuse…I’m conducting a national survey. If you’re from New York, Los Angeles, Witchita, or other beautiful parts of the country, take a minute and think about someone you know who was harassed at work. Maybe it was you. It could be from a current or former work experience. Why do you think the company didn’t respond? Is it bad management? Poor company policies? Weak corporate values? Or was the harasser innocent? We’re trying to find out.
I’ve received e-mails from several women and there are many reasons out there. I’ve worked in business for 28 years and I’ve heard lots of excuses, and justifications for alleged misconduct. Some companies have poor policies, others don’t take harassment very seriously. In some cases the alleged harasser was innocent. In other cases, the victim didn’t want to lose her job so she didn’t press charges. There are lots of reasons, so we’re trying to build a spread sheet containing as much data as we can collect from our readers. If you saw something, know something, or have some information related to harassment and can help us fill in the blanks, please send us your comments.
Please take a few minutes to think up a few of the primary reasons why nothing (or something) is done to stop such misconduct and simply log your thoughts in the comments section. I’ll provide a report as soon as we get some feedback. We’ll be promoting this survey on Twitter, ehow, and on this site. If we get enough input, we’d like to forward the results to our legislators and use this data to help evaluate how effective our current laws are in enforcing anti-harassment policies at work.
Your comments may focus on sexual harassment, bullying, or any other forms of workplace injustice. Thanks for your input.
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