Sexual Harassment in the Eye of the Beholder: But What Focuses that Eye?

Abstract

A major difficulty in controlling sexual harassment is that it is actually a perceptual phenomenon. A survey was created to determine what effects a perpetrator’s gender and management status and evaluator’s education have on whether fifteen behaviors are perceived as sexual harassment. Responses indicated a strong negative bias towards male superiors, while a positive bias appeared for female peers. Graduate degree subjects perceived more of the behaviors as harassing, but were much less biased than subjects with only undergraduate degrees. Sexual harassment is a critical concern for today’s managers. Although believed to be grossly under reported,the number of harassment complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) increased 71 percent during 1991 alone, and this trend is expected to continue (Kleiman 1992). In fact, where the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of gender, allowed relief only in the form of specific performance (such as reinstatement), the Civil Rights Act of 1991 allows for compensatory and punitive damages (Patterson 1993). The effect of this modification is to greatly increase the financial liability of employer wrong doers for harassment. The issue’s depth is staggering in that 42.5 percent of all U.S.working women and 12.5 percent of the working men feel they have been sexually harassed on the job (Bradshaw 1987) Niven 1992). While sexual harassment is not actually perpetrated by the organization, the EEOC holds the employer responsible for its prevention, and courts consequently hold the employer liable for its occurrence where the employer knew, or should have known, about the harassment (Ellison v. Brady 1991).

Citation

Head, T.C., Sorensen, P.F. and Pincus, L.B. (1995), "Sexual Harassment in the Eye of the Beholder: But What Focuses that Eye?", American Journal of Business, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 47-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/19355181199500006