SafeAlert - June 2000

Sexual Harassment or Consensual Relationship?

Romantic or sexual relationships in the workplace are not a new trend. Likewise, problems arising from such relationships are a natural part of the human condition. What has changed, however, is the law governing relationships in the workplace. What may appear to be a consensual relationship to one party may be sexual harassment to another.

Recently, we have been placed on notice of several sexual harassment claims involving a member of management and one of his or her staff members. In most of these situations there was not a direct reporting relationship between the parties. Moreover, it appears that when the relationships started they were consensual. Other members of management were not informed of the relationship at its inception.

Unfortunately, as often happens in many relationships, one of the parties wanted to discontinue the relationship. This led to ill feelings and eventually, to a formal charge of sexual harassment. A lawsuit soon followed seeking significant damages and creating extremely bad publicity for the financial institutions.

Does your institution have a policy in place governing consensual romantic or sexual relationships in the workplace? If not, we strongly recommend that one be created and implemented immediately. Such a policy should require that relationships between managers and subordinates be reported to the manager’s reporting authority as well as the Human Resources Department. The consensual nature of the relationship should be documented in writing and any direct reporting relationships should be changed.

For more information on policies and procedures to guard against these types of claims, please contact Laura Simmons, Employment Claims Supervisor at Progressive at 1-800-274-5222, ext. 34315.

Finally, please watch for new employment related loss control initiatives from Progressive which will be coming out in the near future.

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