DANGEROUS LIAISONSof women workers and their contribution to business, or aware of
a 1986 Supreme Court decision that an employer is legally responsi-
ble for preventing sexual harassment and providing a harassment-
free environment, are taking the initiative in fighting harassment.
Good Housekeeping points out that in Camden, New Jersey,
the Campbell Soup Company began a program shortly after the
Supreme Court decision to teach its 1,700 workers just what the
court has ruled about sexual harassment and how to handle it.
The company spokesperson explained that "it's in the company's
own interest to prevent problems and quickly solve the ones that
do occur."
Campbell isn't the only company taking action. Among others,
Du Pont, in Wilmington, Delaware, uses half-day seminars to teach
its 100,000 company employees the subtexts of sexual harassment
and what help is available.
Freada Klein, a human-resources consultant from Boston, justi-
fies these training policies. "Companies need to reach out to their
employees to say it's okay to speak up," she says, explaining
that even when there is a policy against harassment, some women
are afraid to come forward.
There are advantages, not only to a company that discour-
ages sexual harassment, but also to its workers. K. C. Wagner, a
Manhattan-based consultant who does corporate training on sexual
harassment, says that problems resolved within the company result
in less damage to workers' careers and emotions.
One important factor is understanding just what sexual harass-
ment is. What are the subtexts that clue you in to when it's happen-
ing? The difficulty is that there are very few objective subtexts.
Sometimes the harassment is obvious, but far more often it exists
in a gray area that boils down to one person's perception versus
another's.