NCJ Number
162512
Date Published
1996
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes one organization's experience with an allegation of sexual harassment and the author's involvement as a consultant to the organization.
Abstract
The case involved an academic institution, with complaints of sexual harassment being brought by several female clerical employees against the male financial officer. In this case the division of men and women in the work force facilitated the development of sexually exploitative relationships and undermined trust between men and women, staff, and faculty. The fact that the group making complaints became known as "the woman's group" served to separate them from the faculty and the board ("the men's group") and facilitated sex-role "spillover" (Gutek, 1985; Nieva and Gutek, 1981). Furthermore, trust between the board and faculty (mostly men) and students and staff (mostly women) is still low. Although some board members and faculty believed the settlement with one complainant encouraged others to make charges that would lead to financial settlements, many of the women felt that the school was more concerned about its legal liability than about them. Unless more women are hired or promoted into high- ranking positions and/or more men are hired as clerical workers, the gender division of labor in the school will remain. In many ways, the school is still vulnerable to another incident of sexual harassment that could be as, or almost as, problematic as this case. This case shows how difficult it is to handle an allegation of sexual harassment in a manner that is fair and satisfactory to all parties. Organizational interventions and methods of negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution might fruitfully be applied to handling complaints of sexual harassment. 2 notes and 12 references