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supervisors are the first line of defense against sexual harassment. By setting the right
example, a supervisor may discourage his or her employees from acting inappropriately. In
addition, supervisors will often be the first to spot objectionable conduct or the first to receive a
complaint about conduct which he or she did not observe.
The courts and the Illinois Human Rights Commission have found that organizations as well as
supervisors can be held liable for damages related to sexual harassment by a manager,
supervisor, employee, or third party (an individual who is not an employee but does business
with an organization, such as a contractor, customer, sales, representative, or repair person).
Liability is either based on an organization's responsibility to maintain a certain level of order
and discipline among employees, or on the supervisor, acting as an agent of the organization.
It should be noted that recent United States Supreme Court cases involving sexual
harassment claims against supervisors have made the employer's liability for supervisors'
actions even stricter. Therefore, supervisors must understand that their adherence to this
policy is vitally important; both with regard to their responsibility to maintain a work
environment free of harassment and, even more importantly, with regard to their own individual
conduct. The law continues to require employers to remain vigilant and effectively remedy
sexually harassing conduct perpetrated by individual(s) on their coworkers. Supervisors must
act quickly and responsibly not only to minimize their own liability but also that of the company.
Specifically, a supervisor must address an observed incident of sexual harassment or a
complaint, with equal seriousness, report it, take prompt action to investigate it, implement
appropriate disciplinary action, take all necessary steps to eliminate the harassment and
observe strict confidentiality. This also applies to cases where an employee tells the supervisor
about behavior considered sexual harassment but does not want to make a formal complaint.
Also, supervisors must ensure that no retaliation will result against an employee making a
sexual harassment complaint.
Furthermore, managers/supervisors should remind employees, on a regular basis, that their
incoming and outgoing electronic messages on employer owned/issued equipment are subject
to monitoring and that employees have no expectation of privacy on employer owned/issued
electronic equipment. Inform employees that if they are subjected to inappropriate electronic
communications while at work or on employer-owned equipment, or even on their personal cell
phones and computers, that they should contact their supervisor or Human Resources
immediately. Advise managers, supervisors, and employees not to “friend” each other on
social networks and to limit their electronic messages to relevant business matters.
Investigate complaints on a case-by case basis and remind employees of the company’s code
of conduct and ethics rules if applicable.
PROCEDURES FOR FILING A COMPLAINT
An employee who either observes or believes herself/himself to be the object of sexual
harassment should deal with the incident(s) as directly and firmly as possible by clearly
communicating her/his position to the offending employee, her/his supervisor and company
contact:
It is not necessary for sexual harassment to be directed at the person making a complaint.
