Sexual harassment is unfortunately common in California and in other states. The #MeToo movement has brought national media attention to a problem that has existed for many years. Experts say that one of the best ways for companies to prevent sexual harassment is to train their employees, especially supervisors who interact with employees frequently.
The EEOC developed a report on sexual harassment in 2016. The report recommended three areas of training: civility in the workplace, bystander intervention and employee education.
Recent studies have shown progress in sexual harassment reduction at work. One study found that 24 percent of executives surveyed stated that they were more careful about word choices. Another 16 percent stated that they were more careful about the types of jokes they tell at work, and 9 percent said that they no longer had physical contact with other employees at work.
Another study found that sexual harassment still occurs quite frequently. Of those surveyed, 70 percent said that they were aware of an incident of sexual harassment at work or had witnessed such an incident.
The victim of sexual harassment might be eligible to file a claim against their employer. An attorney with experience in employment law could advise a client about their rights as a worker. Sexual harassment includes a broad range of behaviors such as lewd comments, unwanted sexual advances, physical touching and more. In some cases, it may be a good idea for an employee to go to their human resources department or report the harassing behavior to the EEOC.