This chapter illustrates that harassment is a workplace safety issue that can result in physical injury, emotional and professional damage to the victim, and negative consequences including legal liability to the organization. Because employees frequently spend most of their waking hours at work, their greatest opportunity for meeting potential mates is on the job. If an organization prohibits all socializing of employees, they may feel stifled. Therefore, organizations must perform a balancing act: they must provide a safe climate, yet not create an oppressive environment. In order to ensure a satisfactory outcome, the victims of harassment and the organizations in which harassment occurs have certain responsibilities. The chapter discusses individual and organization responsibilities and highlights these using actual examples of sexual harassment incidents. Furthermore, the principal forensic issues relevant to the discussion of harassment are also discussed in the chapter.
Abstract