O'Reilly and changing a culture of sexual harassment
APRIL 21, 2017 NEW YORK—When Fox News was forced to part ways with their wildly successful host Bill O’Reilly this week, many pointed out an all-too-common problem in many American businesses: a culture that tolerates sexual harassment.
Thirty years after the Supreme Court ruled such behavior a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace, there remain significant gaps between the nation’s social ideals and the realities on the job. To change workplace culture, many professionals say, it's not so much policies or training that make a difference but the tone established by leaders.
“First and foremost is, there’s a tone at the top of those companies that deal with it most effectively, showing that they care about instilling a culture of respect and integrity for all employees,” says Lisa Banks, founding partner of Katz, Marshall & Banks in Washington, D.C., where she concentrates on employment discrimination and sexual harassment cases. “So it starts at the top. You have to have leadership, and you have to have accountability, and that has to be driven all the way through the ranks.”
A major study of sexual harassment in the workplace, released last year by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, concluded that “much of the training done over the last 30 years has not worked as a prevention tool – it’s been too focused on simply avoiding legal liability.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2017/0421/O-Reilly-and-changing-a-culture-of-sexual-harassment
