One of those bits of information you want to know

[drwex]

A couple weeks ago I posted about illegal workplace harrasment. With the women whom Herman Caine assaulted coming forward the issue is again on my mind and I was listening to a talk by a woman who teaches corporations about how to have policies and deal with this sort of thing.

The key detail I picked up, which I did not myself know, is that there are clear legal case precedents stating that anyone at the company who is in any sort of supervisory role has an obligation to maintain a harassment-free environment. Therefore if you are ever in a situation where you cannot go to your boss or your direct supervisory chain for some reason you can (and probably should) report the situation to another supervisor or manager at your workplace.

Of course, there's no guarantee they'll do the right thing (as the unfolding disaster at Penn State is showing) but in failing to take action, a supervisor who receives such a report is violating the law.

Comments

[blackanvil.livejournal.com]

Yep, at UUNET, I had several employees from other managers come to me with harassment or similar issues. HR had policies in place for that -- no fuss, just make sure that HR gets involved, document everything, and hope that it turns out to be nothing truly bad.