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Source: CBS Market Watch, April 17,2002
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| David Bowman, of TTG Consultants, Warns: 'Sexual Harassment Claims: Are You Next?' |
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Wednesday April 17, 3:39 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: David J. Bowman
LOS ANGELES, April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- ``$30,600,000 recently awarded to six women employees claiming sexual harassment at Ralph's grocery chain, a Kroger Co. unit, means all employers -- and employees -- must take immediate steps to protect themselves. This is the largest court-imposed sexual harassment judgment in U. S. history!''
Warnings come from human capital specialist David J. Bowman, Chairman of TTG Consultants, which serves many of America's largest companies, including Disney, Ernst & Young, Prudential Insurance, Seagram and Sony.
``Perception can play a determining role in deciding what is and is not sexual harassment. 'I was only complimenting her' is a frequent excuse, but what one person thinks is a compliment, another may feel is abusive and perceives as creating a 'hostile environment' -- one of the legal definitions of sexual harassment.
``A study at Northwest Missouri State University indicates that 95% of women were offended by suggestive comments, staring and/or flirting, while 45% of men thought women would be flattered by the attention.
``Not only are employers at risk of heavy judgments, employees may be, too, especially supervisors and top management -- even if they had no knowledge of the harassment. What may have seemed 'safe' yesterday isn't today. The 'rules' have changed, and must be heeded.
``Today, the burden of proof is on the employer to show its innocence if a worker claims harassment. All employers should: (1) have a published and conspicuous sexual harassment prevention policy, (2) provide on-going prevention training (new hires must be trained at new employee orientation sessions), (3) have a complaint process in place which does not jeopardize the accusing party.
``Basic safeguards like these are necessary, and additional ones are recommended to suit the special needs of each situation,'' Bowman says.
Mr. Bowman may be reached for further guidance at +1-800-736-8840 or
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
For further information, please contact: Julian Myers Public Relations, +1-310-641-9664, or +1-310-827-9089, for David J. Bowman.
SOURCE: David J. Bowman
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