Human Resources Perspective – Same-Sex Sexual Harassment:
Policy/Procedure: Policies and procedures need to be up-to-date, meet current guidelines, and be consistently applied.
Implementation: Training should address all types of harassment and reporting processes. All reports of harassment must receive the same level of investigation.
Audit: Periodically assess the harassment prevention policy/procedure and implementation with internal and external audits to ensure they are comprehensive, complete, and current.
Seattle — Olympia, Wash.-based Koelsch Senior Communities, LLC, which provides assisted living and other care facilities for seniors, violated federal law by allowing a female supervisor to sexually harass a female employee, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit. The EEOC’s investigation found that from very early on, employee Rebecca Flores was made uncomfortable by the conduct of her female supervisor at The Hampton at Salmon Creek, a Koelsch assisted care facility in Vancouver, Wash. This included comments about Flores’s clothing and appearance; a request to be friends on Facebook; repeatedly asking for foot massages; and discussions of the supervisor’s interest in extramarital affairs and sexual bondage. In particular, Flores was disturbed by an incident where her supervisor stood close behind her and expressed a desire to rub her buttocks. When Flores reported the unwelcome behavior to upper management, Koelsch failed to investigate properly and quickly sided with the supervisor, which emboldened the woman to continue harassing Flores with sexually charged comments and unwanted touching.
