Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in Georgia

Re: Sexual Harrasment

First of all, take the complaint seriously. In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court decided two cases that clarified the employer's responsibilities in such cases (the Faragher and Ellerth cases). The court held that an employer may have an affirmative defense to claims of sexual harassment in many cases if it follows proper procedure. Although you have just received a claim of harassment, your obligations under Faragher began earlier. You should have a policy of non-harassment that is distributed or made known to employees that prohibits harassment in the workplace that includes a provision about how to report a claim of harassment. Assuming that you have such a policy, your obligations going forward are to fairly investigate the claim and, if the harassment claim has merit, take "prompt remedial action" to correct the situation. The quoted phrase is language used by the Supreme Court in Faragher and Ellerth, but the Court did not define what prompt remedial action is in all cases. Since 1998, courts have sometimes interpreted what constitutes prompt remedial action in particular cases resulting in different definitions of the phrase. Essentially, the company needs to take action to try to ensure that any harassing behavior stops. This could mean no more than a written warning to the harasser in some minor cases to termination in more serious cases. Each situation is different, so there is no "one size fits all" solution. I do have a paper on conducting sexual harassment investigations that I would be happy to give to you that outlines what you should do in the event that a complaint of sexual harassment is made by an employee. Feel free to e-mail or call me if you would like a copy or if you have specific questions.

The foregoing is general information only, not specific legal advice. No attorney/client relationship has been created or should be implied by anything contained herein.