Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace

Employers across the country are being bombarded with harassment and discrimination suits. For example, there are an average of 56 claims of sexual harassment filed with the EEOC every day and the average jury award in harassment cases is $250,000. Business owners are seeking to insure against such risk. However a mounting concern for employers facing employment discrimination and harassment cases is the cost of hiring attorneys to defend the cases. Defense of these cases can run into the tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is especially concerning to small business owners who don’t have the time or money to spend studying the nuances of employment law.

Employers are being sued by their employees for discrimination against or harassment by not only the employer but also by other employees. Employers are vicariously liable for the discrimination or harassment perpetrated by other employees. And in a sexual harassment case, it is not important whether or not a man doing the harassing thought what he was saying was offensive. It matters how the woman viewed it. If she is unreasonably oversensitive, there was no hostile environment. But if her feelings were reasonable, from the perspective of a woman in similar circumstances, there is a hostile environment and therefore harassment.

Unfortunately small business owners often are unaware of these legal pot holes until faced with a law suit. As employment law has changed, employers have turned to worker leasing through professional employment organizations (PEOs) to hedge against rising risks.

The bottom line is to never forget the Golden Rule of employment allegations:
It’s not about who wins or loses the fight. It’s about the COST of the fight!