Preventing Sexual and Other Harassment/Discrimination Claims

Why Should You Attend:

The laws have changed – as of January 1, 2020 any employer with five (5) or more employees MUST offer this type of training;. Employees include part-time, interns whether paid or not and some contractors. It also includes people working in other locations, such as at home.

Every day we are learning about more harassing, bullying and abuse behavior on the part of men (mostly men – some women) who have been in positions of power over their (mostly) female victims. Women all over the country – indeed all over the world are yelling “#Metoo” and Not anymore.

This dynamic movement has opened the door for many other women and girls to come forward to share their stories of abuse. Among the ugliest of them (in my opinion) is the young gymnasts – some not even teenagers – abused by their team physician. No more will vulnerable girls, boys and women passively accept demands for sexual favors.

That’s the plus side. The flip side is that any untoward behavior can be interpreted as harassment and abuse behavior. Professional careers can be lost due to these accusations. We need context. We need perspective. Complaints of tacky and inappropriate words should not rise to the level of demands for sexual favors, or actual sexual abuse. We need to look at context. For example, in the sixties and seventies in many parts of the country, there was a tremendous push for sexual freedom. Some people believed that now that the birth control pill was available anything could go. Much of the accusations today come from behaviors that although inappropriate now were considered OK then.

We need to separate mildly offensive behavior from criminal behavior. We also need to be careful that we do not participate in a witch hunt, finding harassment everywhere.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will:

• Recognize the different types of harassment and abuse.
• Discover the context into which some of these behaviors occurred in the past.
• Identify strategies for preventing being accused of harassment or abuse in the future.
• Explore new ways of interacting with each other in the workplace – as well as in work-related social activities.
• Understand different reactions to teasing
• Become aware of how easy it is to create a hostile work environment

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• Understanding the legal/social definitions of sexual harassment, discrimination, abuse and bullying.
• Examples of subtle forms of harassment
• Knowing the “protected” classes of people and why one should not discriminate
• Management’s role in preventing harassment, discrimination, etc.
• Appropriate and inappropriate behaviors in the workplace
• Understanding that work-related activities such as work-social events are subject to all the laws as if they were in the workplace itself
• Recognizing the value and problems as a result of the current #MeToo Movement
• Understanding culture and context

Who Will Benefit:

• Supervisors, Managers, and Leaders of businesses/government agencies of all kinds
• All staff - because it only takes 2 people to cause a problem
• Those that are mandated by law to provide the training
• Anyone trying to stay current with the "climate"
• All industries - non-profits - associations and employees of government agencies

ArLyne Diamond
Founder and President, Diamond Associates

ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized Leadership, Management, Professional Development and O-D consultant specializing in people and processes in the workplace. Multifaceted, Dr. Diamond has extensive experience in a wide range of disciplines (business, education, management, marketing, business ownership, psychology - and some economics and law as well.) This enables her to see things from a variety of angles and to cleave to the essence of a problem quickly, offering her clients creative and practical solutions.

As the President and Founder of her consulting firm, Diamond Associates, which was established in 1981, Dr. Diamond's clients range from boards of directors and upper management to support staff in many industries, both public and private. This includes small business and professional practices, corporations, associations, service/charity organizations and government agencies (including police and fire.) She works with individuals, teams and large groups. Dr. Diamond trains Boards of Directors and teaches several courses to board members and those striving for board appointments.

She is well known for her skill in large and small group process, including workshops in strategic planning, change management, conflict resolution, system streamlining, communication, management of people and projects, as well as board of directors development, committee and team training.

Her executive consulting/coaching and mentoring of individuals includes helping new CEOs grow into their position and learn how to create and work with executive teams, stakeholders, and others in their organization.

Dr. Diamond taught a wide range of MBA university courses in Business, Organizational Development, Quality, Change Management, Persuasion/ Negotiation, Marketing and Leadership and others. She also taught a series of Psychology courses to graduate and undergraduate students.

Topic Background:

Since the days of the caveman, some bullies have exploited their position of strength and power to take sexual advantage of those more vulnerable. Laws have been developed to attempt to prevent this type of exploitation in the workplace. Over time, these laws have become more and more stringent.

Recently, a group of women have announced publicly NO MORE. They formed what has come to be known as #MeToo Movement shedding light on the enormity of the problem.

But, like all new movements, there are some extremists who are looking for signs of sexual harassment “under every rock” and claims are being filed by some looking to take advantage of the movement. People are being accused of behaviors that occurred 30 to 40 years previously – without regard for context.

Training of this nature is mandatory for most employees in most organizations.