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Using reliable Internet sources and search for and locate a recent court case or lawsuit related to sexual harassment in the workplace. Then, conduct a case study in which you analyze the case, presen
Using reliable Internet sources and search for and locate a recent court case or lawsuit related to sexual harassment in the workplace. Then, conduct a case study in which you analyze the case, presenting an argument and applicable evidence about your selected court case or lawsuit. Consider the concepts learned in this course as you analyze the case and present your analysis.
Include the following in your paper:
- a brief description of the conduct that precipitated the selected court case or lawsuit and how Title VII protects against this conduct;
- an analysis of the use of the complaint procedure and the employer’s response to any complaints;
- a discussion of preventive steps that could have been used to prevent the harassment from occurring; and
- a summary of the costs to the employer, financial and otherwise, stemming from the lawsuit and the underlying conduct.
Your paper should be a minimum of two pages, not including the title and reference pages. You are required to use a minimum of three sources, one of which may be your textbook as reference material for your case study. Adhere to APA Style when constructing this assignment, including in-text citations and references for all sources that are used. Please note that no abstract is needed.
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Case Study
Sexual harassment at the workplace has been rampant over the past few years, and it violates the stipulations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII is designed in such a way that it handles matters of organizations that have more than 15 employees (Weiss, 2019). It is also applicable to employment agencies and all those affiliated to labor organizations. The federal government is also part of the law, and they need to adhere to it at all costs. The court case to discuss is titled "Fuller v. State of Idaho." This case is a complete proof of the fact that sexual harassment should not be allowed at the workplace, and anyone found guilty faces the costs that come with it.
Description of the Conduct
In May 2019, Cynthia Fuller was awarded $300,000 as compensation for the sexual harassment that she underwent while at the workplace. Fuller was a former employee of the Idaho Department of Correction, and she served the organization for eight years. Fuller began as a guard, but later on, she was promoted to serve in the Parole Office (Schnapper et al., 2018). Fuller met Herbt Cruz with whom they started a romantic relationship. After a few months of dating, Fuller felt that the relationship was not good for her and therefore attempted to end it. Fuller had a feeling that Cruz was controlling and also showed some aspects of physical aggressiveness. Cruz went ahead to kidnap Fuller, raping, beating and sodomizing her. It was at this point that Fuller filed a lawsuit against the DOC supervisors and the state to ensure that Cruz was punished.
Protection by Title VII and Complaint Procedure
This case is a total violation of Title VII as it protects employees from any unwelcome sexual advances, sexual favors, and physical, sexual conduct. Title VII protects any sexual approach that interferes with an employee's employment status and work performance. The complaint procedure was well fooled in this case when looked from Fuller's perfective. Fuller first reported her case to the investigating officer, after which she was given a court order that protected her from Cruz. The employer, represented by the DOC supervisor, responded to the matter by giving Fuller an administrative leave.
Preventive Steps for Harassment Prevention
The best thing would have been to train all employees and ensure they understand sexual harassment and its nature. The training would revolve around discriminatory treatment and also seeking favors in the form of sex (Walsh, 2019). This is supposed to go hand in hand with the establishment of a sexual harassment policy that each employee knows. Raising awareness of sexual harassment is also a step that would have been taken to prevent such acts from taking place. A clear harassment reporting product would also help in dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace.
Summary of Costs to the Employer
Since the employer failed to a proper investigation of the sexual harassment issue, he had to suffer the consequences of the same. The employer had to pay a sum of $300,000 as damages to the victim of sexual harassment at the workplace. This happened because Fuller was still an employee of the organization and that she reported the matter with no staunch action being taken. The lawsuit, therefore, cost the employer a massive amount of money that would have been prevented by taking the issue seriously and following the law.
The case, therefore, made it clear that Title VII is working and that no employee should be subjected to sexual harassment. Any employer that ignores matters of sexual harassment faces the consequences that come with high costs.
References
Schnapper, E., Birch, E., & Hartstad, K. (2018). Brief in Opposition. Idaho Department of Corrections v. Fuller (No. 17-959), 2018 USS Ct. Briefs LEXIS 693, 2018 WL 1256177.
Walsh, D. J. (2019). Employment law for human resource practice (6th ed.) [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781337670685
Weiss, J. T. (2019). Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII. The Encyclopedia of Women and Crime, 1-3.