Away from the media spotlight, there’s plenty of misconduct going
on, too. The Ontario Human Rights Legal Support Centre
reported that during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, they
received 1,173 calls about sexual harassment. That amounts to
three calls every day – and that’s just in Ontario.
Despite all this, it’s unlikely we’re witnessing a resurgence of sexual
harassment.
“I don’t think sexual harassment has ever gone away,” said
Christine Thomlinson, partner at Rubin Thomlinson, LLP.
Instead, our tolerance for bad behaviour may be in decline, and
our willingness to blow the whistle could be on the rise.
What’s more, our understanding of sexual harassment has
evolved. Rather than simply “quid pro quo” (an employee agrees to
go along with a sexual advance in return for a reward or to avoid a
punishment), today’s legal definition is quite broad.
“Sexual harassment is any unwelcome or unwanted behaviour
– of a sexual nature – that makes a person uncomfortable,” said
Craig Stehr, a lawyer with Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP.
IMPACT OF THE BORDERLESS WORKPLACE
Along with the broader definition of sexual harassment, we’re
blurring the boundaries of the workplace. With the influence of
social media, the frequency of work-related travel and our tendency
to send emails and attend to other work duties during
non-traditional hours, the definition of workplace is becoming
more and more grey.
This past spring, for example, a Hydro One employee attending
a Toronto FC game heckled a female on-air City TV reporter after
another individual insulted her with a sexually explicit taunt.
A social media firestorm followed and Hydro One promptly fired
the man because of the conduct, despite the fact that the incident
didn’t happen on company property or during company time.
Yganko/Shutterstock.com
The same is true of the alleged cases of sexual harassment on
Parliament Hill. Two of the interactions in question took place
outside of the office: one at a bar and one at a sporting event.
INDIRECT REPORTING
The Parliament Hill cases are also a prime example of another significant
shift: organizations are no longer waiting, necessarily, for
the victim of sexual harassment to come forward.
“In the case of the two MPs, you have a situation where nobody
complained,” said Thomlinson. Rumours, however, were rampant.
“There, you saw Justin Trudeau taking the step of engaging an investigation
when he didn’t even have people coming forward with
a complaint.”
THE TIPPING POINT
Behind all these changes is a growing acknowledgment of something
most HR practitioners have understood for years.
“I think there’s an increasing recognition that how people feel
at work affects the work they do,” said Thomlinson. Forwardthinking
organizations are realizing the importance of preventing
sexual harassment, and dealing with it effectively if and when it
happens. “When people are on the receiving end of any kind of
unwelcome behaviour, organizations are increasingly recognizing
that this is bad for business.”
BIGGER AWARDS
There’s another shift that might indicate a sea change: awards for
victims of sexual harassment are increasing, at least in a few noteworthy
cases.
“As society is becoming less tolerant, so too are judges and arbitrators,”
said Melanie D. McNaught, partner with Filion Wakely
Thorup Angeletti LLP. “That’s had a couple of effects. First of
cover feature
“ANY TIME THAT A SEXUAL
HARASSMENT COMPLAINT
COMES UP, IT HAS TO BE
TAKEN SERIOUSLY. IF IT’S
NOT ADDRESSED IN AN
APPROPRIATE WAY, AN
EMPLOYER COULD FIND
THEMSELVES LIABLE FOR
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGES.”
– CRAIG STEHR, NELLIGAN O’BRIEN PAYNE LLP
Continued on page 21
18 ❚ OCTOBER 2015 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL