Employer Might Avoid Liability or Damages if Employee Doesn’t Follow Procedures
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008Reduced Risk for Employers when Employee Fails to Follow Complaint Procedure
Under certain circumstances employers can avoid vicarious liability or even certain damages for a supervisor’s sexual harassment of a subordinate worker. This happens when (1) the employer had a meaningful anti-harassment policy, (2) it exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct any sexually harassing behavior, and (3) the victim unreasonably failed to take advantage of preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or avoid harm.
When an employer adopts an anti-harassment policy with complaint procedures and disseminates it to employees, the workers are on notice that the company will respond by conducting a prompt, thorough and unbiased investigation of the complaint, impose appropriate discipline if a violation is found, and provide a meaningful remedy for the victim.