Let's talk about sex

The time has come for big businessmen to start thinking about sex.

Less than two months are left for businesses to fall in line with the state’s new law requiring that business owners with 50 or more employees train their supervisors in sexual harassment prevention.

Up until now, the notion of a safe, hassle-free workplace for women hasn’t been a high priority on anyone’s list, but women hope that the new sexual harassment law, Assembly Bill 1825, will push companies to protect women by hitting business owners where it really hurts — at the bank.

Between now and Dec. 15, to help enlighten management to the emotional cost and fiscal fallout of sexual harassment, the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing will train company supervisors in 14 cities statewide in conjunction with the state Bar Association and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

"One thing businesses must understand is that they are personally responsible for their workplace behavior," said Jamie Siess, DFEH program developer. "Do you have a house that you enjoy living in? Did you drive here in a car? Great Aunt Tillie’s china? All of that is subject to forfeiture."

Forgetting to read the fine print is not a good enough excuse, and will not save companies from getting slapped with a lawsuit down the line, she said. It could cost them their assets.

On Nov. 10, she will hold a two-hour training workshop at the San Bernardino State of California Building, 464 W. 4th St., Suite 152, San Bernardino. The cost is $59 per person.

Once established by DFEH or the court that sexual harassment took place, and the victim suffered damages, the question is not if they’ll get the money, but how much.

At the federal level, employers can claim certain defenses, but California has strict liability.

She literally has a cash register on the PowerPoint presentation.

"Show that it took place, show that a supervisor did it, and the victim has suffered. And cha-ching, cha-ching,’ she said. "And if you’re suing IBM or some other corporation, and you can show the legal standard, you get punitive damages based on the net worth of the defendant. That’s big cha-ching!"

As of fiscal year 2003-04, sexual harassment represented 22 percent of the total number of complaints that the department received, she said, which include the 16.5 percent of complaints also taken in last fiscal year by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.  

Seiss said it’s a drop in the bucket compared to total complaints that were either settled out of court or in a courtroom.
Nearly 14,000 harassment claims were brought before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which forced employers to pay out over $37 billion in damages to harassed workers last year alone.

Signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 after 16 women charged him with sexual harassment, the bill requires managers and supervisors to get trained before Dec. 31, and every two years into the future.

Rhonda Goetz, CEO of ChromeZebra, Inc., an online sexual harassment and discrimination training course, believes the law has teeth.

Goetz, who has taught sexual harassment courses for Riverside County staff and administrators for four years, said the penalty for not complying with AB 1825 is long overdue. Most companies are not going to adequately address sexual harassment simply because it is the right thing to do.

Being a computer techie and instructor in an almost exclusively male-led career for more than 20 years has taught her early in the game how to strike back at time when there few laws to protect women.

Even today, fighting against an overbearing boss can be downright frightening to a young, single mother with a family to raise fearful of losing her job.

Goetz’s program at ChromeZebra.com, which works in conjunction with Stan Grombchevsky, managing partner of Spray, Gould & Bowers LLP of Orange County, meets the state and federal requirements of the bill and offers a completion certificate for $30 per person.

In her online videos, Goetz works in a few of her own experiences, along with court cases. For the minority of cases in which a male is the victim, one video shows a gay boss blatantly coming on to his employee with, "Do you like your job?"

In another scene, a female employee, sick of dealing with an onslaught of daily sexual innuendos, tells the guys that she’s going to report it to the big boss.

She reaches for a pen in her desk and they laugh hysterically as she pulls out a condom instead.
Goetz asks, is this sexual harassment? A lot of people just don’t know where to draw the line, she said. They think it’s a joke, nothing serious, all innocuous.  

"We're very serious about addressing what this feels like and what happens," said Goetz. "The course dispels the assumptions that workers walk in with. I can't tell you how many times people say, 'Well if she didn't dress that way. It's not a big deal. Just flirting.'  When they're done with our material, they get it."

Bobby Becker, vice president for external affairs for Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District, has spent more than 20 years in lower and upper level management within the male-dominated construction industry. Her company is ready to meet the new mandate with interactive online training.

Becker has worked in construction for years calling the shots over high-powered men in the industry. Sexual harassment has toned down a bit since she started, with more women trying to push into nontraditional good paying fields.

"It is better than when I first came here to where I’m at now," she said, admitting there’s still a long road to go.
Compared to the old days, the younger women making their way up the ranks are better off today because they don’t understand why they can’t speak up against sexual harassment. In her time, complaining meant getting fired, or worse. Now, if it’s too hard, they just move on to the next job.

"They don’t really have an investment in staying at a job for 20 years like we did," she said. "They work here for a few years, and they move up. They also feel a bit more empowered."

MWD currently has one woman in Lake Mathews, a manager who is pregnant and working relatively stress-free in a 90 to 95 percent male facility, Becker said.

Still, the other side of being a woman in "man’s work" is that it can have a chilling effect on how often women speak up for their rights.

"It’s not just about being female and sexually harassed," she said. "There’s also the aspect that when you’re female, you’re considered less qualified even when you’re doing the same work."

At a meeting, a woman might suggest something that has all the guys in the boardroom laughing out loud, she said. Five minutes later, when a man says it, it’s a great idea.

Despite her own corporate ascent — not long ago she won yet another promotion — it’s still a heavily male dominated work world. "I still struggle," she said, "but I think a lot of times we have to look beyond gender even if other people don’t. Sometimes we segregate ourselves just because it’s more comfortable. It’s hard."

If companies don’t comply by Jan. 1, the state will not send out a letter of noncompliance, and no big hammer will drop out of the sky.

The law kicks in when a complaint is filed with DFEH or EEOC. If sexual harassment is found, and the company didn’t take the steps to educate their workforce, liability goes up and the complainant will collect more in damages.
Pasadena attorney and legal expert witness Gerda Govine said that women need to take control by reporting harassment in the early stages "before a wink becomes a rape." That may be a stretch, but not by very far. Thousands of women are stalked and raped each year.

Govine said AB 1825 is one of the best written bills that she’s seen.

"It’s very specific. If a company reads the bill, and says they didn’t know what to do, they’re not telling the truth because it’s very clear."

Govine, a lawyer, an expert witness and a sexual harassment trainer, was on staff with the Pasadena Commission on the Status of Women for seven years as a sexual harassment and discrimination trainer, conducted workshops, focus groups and developed sexual harassment criteria and materials.

"If a company is diligent, these complaints never see the light of day because they can handle it and they’re doing what they need to do," she said. "But somebody can make a stupid mistake that will cost the companies millions of dollars. Do your homework; do what you need to do."