Mingi Cho, Jaehyun Cho, Dalsoo Oh, and Ilhwa Choi. You’re not a cast member in a new movie. Celebrities whose sexual assault-ridden pasts have been exposed through the #MeToo campaign. It’s not just the cultural world. The #MeToo movement is also spreading to prosecutors, religious communities, universities, and politics. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
These are just the cases that are covered in the media due to the recognition of the alleged perpetrators, and it’s hard to imagine how many people are suffering from workplace sexual assault in the average company.
In our last column, we explored the scope of workplace sexual assault and what you can do as a victim. When you think about who is a victim of workplace sexual assault, the first thing that comes to mind is an employee who has been sexually assaulted.
But there are more people who are harmed by workplace sexual assault. That’s a company.
If the perpetrator is not the president, then at the company level, the perpetrator is just one of the employees. It can be frustrating to be sued for something that happened between employees and then have to pay out huge amounts of money in damages.
But it’s nothing to feel bad about. This is because companies have a duty and responsibility to provide an environment where employees can work free from sexism and sexual violence. No cows lost, no barns mended. You need to be proactive and defend yourself.
So today, we’re going to talk about what companies can do to prevent and address sexual violence in the workplace.
As a company, the first thing you need to do to prepare for workplace sexual assault is to have a clear employee handbook.
Your bylaws should be comprehensive and detailed regarding sexual assault. Among other things, it should include
- Detailed definition and scope of sexual assault.
- To whom and how to report sexual assault in the workplace.
- How reports will be investigated.
- What penalties the perpetrator will face if the reported sexual assault is found to be true.
Because your bylaws are a written document and will be one of the first pieces of evidence in the event of an untoward incident, you should take great care in drafting them, and we strongly recommend that you seek the advice of a professional attorney.
As important as the content of the code is, it’s what you dowith it that counts.
The 2011 lawsuit is a good example. In 2011, a female employee at an Illinois-based company called Aaron’s Rents was sexually harassed by her manager. Naturally, she reported it to the company several times, but the company’s response was inadequate. There was no active investigation or punishment. Due to the company’s lack of action, the manager’s sexual harassment escalated and increased in frequency.
Unable to take it anymore, she filed a lawsuit in federal court, and the court awarded the company a staggering $95 million in damages for its lack of action. This is why it’s important to have a clear set of rules and practice.
Providingemployees with sexual assault trainingis just as important as policies to prevent workplace sexual assault.
Training can be conducted by Human Resources, by external experts, or by video. This course should be used to further elaborate on the workplace sexual harassment language in the bylaws.
It is advisable to provide separate training not only for employees, but also for executives and managers of the company. It’s important to explain in detail, with examples, how you should and shouldn’t react when sexual assault is reported in the workplace.
In fact, some states mandate such training. In California, companies with more than 50 employees are required to provide at least two hours of workplace sexual assault prevention training to their executives every other year. New York City recently proposed an ordinance that would require companies with 15 or more employees to provide sexual assault prevention training.
There are many ways for companies to take the lead and prevent workplace sexual violence.
Sexual violence in the workplace is not new, but it needs to change.
It’s no longer something to be overlooked or ignored. But this is not a problem that will be solved by changing one person. Society as a whole needs to change.
Song Dong Ho Law Firm will be at the forefront of this change. We will work to prevent sexual violence in the workplace by helping companies raise awareness so that there are no unnecessary victims.
If you have any further questions about the content of the column, or if there is a law you would like our readers to know about, please do not hesitate to contact us at mail@songlawfirm.com. I will reflect that in my next column.
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