Dear Evil HR Lady,
We recently had a female employee accuse her direct supervisor, a male, of sexual harassment. Now, we are very small, and don’t have an HR department. Could you point us in the right direction on how to handle this? We have separated the two before, but need some direction on how to handle this.
To read the answer click here: An employee says she’s being sexually harassed. Now what?
Eep, what a tough situation. I hope everything works out for the best for everybody.
I would like to remind any male readers that YES you too can be harassed, by another male or a female, and YES it can be sexual. It’s still illegal. And you should report it promptly. Predators of any stripe get away with their behavior because they count on victims not saying anything.
As far as I know (Suzanne, please correct me if I’m wrong), the procedure for handing it would be the same as if the complainant were female. Or if the female were harrassing a female.
Suzanne, your recommendations are spot-on. I would like to emphasize one point – DOCUMENTATION.
I’ve seen in my own investigations (non-sexual harassment) the presence of documentation can be a saving grace when confronted with an disingenuous employee. There is no better response than presenting the employee with his/her own words.