Preventing Workplace Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation

Employers should ensure that their policies expressly state that they apply to all forms of discriminatory harassment, not just sexual harassment.

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While compliance with these steps will not insulate a public entity employer from liability for unlawful harassment, it will help to prevent unlawful harassment from occurring and possibly insulate the employer from tort liability as well as damages. 176

The following additional measures may also deter unlawful harassment:

 Promote equal employment opportunity at all levels of the workplace;

 Treat all people on their individual merits, without regard to their sex, race, age, or other protected status;  Ensure that the visual, verbal, and physical aspects of the work site do not contain indicators of stereotyping based on any protected classifications;  Do not allow joking or rumors based on physical attributes or any other basis for protected status;  Do not allow innuendo or gossip which isolate individuals by their protected status;  Be sensitive to supervisor/subordinate personal relationships which could adversely impact the good judgment and neutrality of the supervisor;  When monitoring the attire of agency employees, be sure to monitor the attire of both genders;  Adopt and distribute to all personnel an effective policy against harassment and review and re-distribute that policy on a regular basis;  Regularly train all employees, particularly supervisors and managers, on how to avoid and prevent harassment;  Investigate promptly all complaints of harassment and intolerable working conditions;  Take corrective action promptly, if needed, after each investigation of a complaint; and  Do not take punitive action against anyone for complaining about harassment, discrimination, or retaliation, or for engaging in any other protected activity.

All these preventive measures, however, must be balanced against your employees’ rights to free speech and association. 177 In general, speech must be about a matter of “public concern” to be protected under the First Amendment. Religion is considered a topic of public concern. Courts weigh the individual’s

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Preventing Workplace Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 41