Letter of the Law

by Cynthia B. McGinnis

ances that no retaliation will be taken against anyone complaining of harassment, includes reasonable assurances of confidentiality and the employer informs complainants whenever corrective action has been taken.

Further, employers can increase the likelihood that a court would find that an employee had reasonably failed to use the employer's procedures if the employer provides thorough education and training to employees on a consistent basis.

In summary, where a supervisor creates a hostile work environment without there being any adverse employment action, an employer will not be liable to the complaining employee if the employer establishes that the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct any sexually harassing behavior and the complaining employee failed to take advantage of preventative and corrective opportunities provided by the employer to resolve the harassment.

If your company does not have a sexual harassment policy and an education program regarding sexual harassment, you should consider contacting an attorney and obtaining an effective harassment policy, and guidelines on an education program.

Even if you do have a sexual harassment policy, you should contact your attorney to make sure that the policy is sufficient in light of the guidelines set forth in the recent Supreme Court decisions.

(Cynthia B. McGinnis is a practicing attorney with the Springfield law firm of Miller & Sanford. Information and opinions expressed in the "Letter of the Law" column should not be construed as legal advice. For counseling on specific legal situations, please consult an attorney.)

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