Male sexual harassment claims on the rise

Sexual harassment to men is going up

Most people are familiar with stories of sexual discrimination against women at work, and would perhaps assume that this is the only form sexual harassment takes. However, since the recession hit the US, allegations of sexual harassment against men at work has been on the rise.

According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), during the fiscal year of 2009, 2,094 sexual harassment claims were filed by men, which equates to 16.4 percent of all claims made. This is twice the amount of claims made by men just a decade earlier, and the number has been steadily rising, despite the fact that the overall number sexual harassment complaints has declined.

In 2005, claims of sexual harassment at work made by men amounted to 14.3 percent, demonstrating the rise over the last five years until 2009 which marked an all-time high.

Reasons behind the increase

Experts believe that the rising claims has coincided with the recession, which has had more of a negative impact on men than women. From September 2008 to January 2010, 4.4 million American men lost their jobs, compared to just 2.3 million women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures.

It has also been noted that the share of male sexual harassment claims rose more in the states which had higher than average unemployment rates, and data strongly supports this link.

In Michigan, for instance, unemployment stood at 14.6 percent in January 2009 and the number of claims by men increased to 26.6 percent in 2009 from 16.6 percent in 2007. Likewise, California saw a rise to 23.6 percent from 18.7 percent over the same period.

By contrast, in states where unemployment didn't climb as much, sexual harassment claims actually dropped. For example, Nebraska, which had 4.7 percent unemployment rate in 2009, saw claims drop from 23.4 percent in 2007 to 12.7 percent in 2009.

"It's certainly possible that there's more sexual harassment of men going on, but it could just be that more men are coming forward and complaining about it," said Ernest Haffner, an attorney in the EEOC's Office of Legal Counsel.

Greg Grant, an attorney with Shulman Rogers in Washington DC, believes that in the past, men would be more inclined to quit their job and find a new one if they were experiencing sexual harassment. Within the current economic climate, however, they are more likely to turn to the legal system. After all, points out Mr. Grant, these men still need to "pay the bills and support families".

Types of sexual harassment against men

Although male employees sometimes experience behavior such as groping and unwanted sexual advances, employment lawyers have said that increasingly "locker room" type behavior such as vulgar comments and horseplay with sexual connotations have been the subject of claims.

The majority of claims are of male-on-male sexual harassment and yet it is not uncommon for the male victim to deny that his harasser had any sexual interest in him.

The first victorious class action for male-on-male sexual harassment occurred in 1998, when the EEOC represented a group of male employees from Long Prairie Packing Company (LPP) who alleged to have been subjected to a pattern and practice of sexual harassment, as well as retaliation against individuals who opposed the alleged harassment.

The EEOC and LPP reached a voluntary settlement of $1.9 million and the case demonstrated a turning point in the treatment of male sexual harassment complaints and charges and further implementation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

Since this landmark case 12 years ago, countless more have been fought and many of them have been won. In November 2009, for example, the Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain agreed to pay $345,000 to six male employees who claimed they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by a group of male kitchen staffers at a Phoenix-area restaurant.

There have also been cases of female-to-male sexual harassment and it is thought that this trend is also rising. Last year, the Regal Entertainment Group, which operates a national chain of movie theaters, agreed to pay $175,000 to settle a lawsuit by a male employee who claimed a female co-worker repeatedly grabbed his crotch at work.

Addressing male sexual harassment in the workplace

Clearly, sexual harassment cases can be very damaging to the victims of harassment, as well as costing companies a huge amount of money and the rise in claims and cases means that this is an issue employers really need to address.

Freada Klein, a workplace bias expert in San Francisco, advises companies to add examples of sexual harassment levied against men to their training and education programs, to safeguard themselves from potential litigation.

Raised awareness of the forms sexual harassment can take against men can also benefit both employers and employees. By helping employees rethink the definition of sexual harassment, employers improve the likelihood of a harassment-free workplace, and employees who have been adequately informed are more likely to recognize and report incidents if they occur.

Employers can also update their sexual harassment policies and make sure that these are available to all members of staff. Discouraging lots of jokey behaviour and inappropriate banter can also help.

Experts also believe that the way in which men react to sexual harassment is very different to the ways women do so, due to the fact that men are more inclined to feel that reporting this sort of behaviour may make their employer or other employees think that they are too sensitive, feminine or homosexual.

Thus, men may be more inclined to go directly to a lawyer, rather than their employer, in order to avoid being judged in this way.

In order to combat this, employers can try to find new ways in which to encourage male employees to feel as though it is acceptable to go to their employer or HR manager to discuss any problems they are having and perhaps provide new channels of communication for employees to contact them through.

Ms. Klein said that she encourages clients to bring up scenarios like public humiliation, bullying and inappropriate banter.

"More types of behaviors are put in the sexual harassment bucket when men are the victims," she said.

Related links:

The ROI of Background Screening | Complacency: The Breeding Ground for Risk | Dressing for work: you're not wearing that are you? | Passing the screen test | HR takes to the stage | Bad Behavior = Bad Business

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