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St. Cloud State University
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Students reminded to report harassment
Published:
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Media Credit: Adam Masloski
Dorrie Larison speaks about sexual harassment in the workplace in Atwood Little Theatre for this week’s “Women on Wednesday” presentation.
Staff Report
SCSU students and faculty had the chance Wednesday to learn about a problem that plagues some workplaces and has lead to many legal battles.
The problem: sexual harassment.
Dorraine Larison, an attorney specializing in sexual harassment cases who teaches companies about the issue, spoke to SCSU students and faculty Wednesday about the laws and definitions of sexual harassment
Speaking for a “Women on Wednesday” program, Larison spoke of her 13 years of experience in the field of law and dealing with sexual harassment.
“When I was young, I wanted to save the world,” Larison said. “I learned I couldn’t save the world. My impact now is often on one individual.”
Larison is an attorney with the law firm of Gray Plant Mooty. She practices in the areas of bankruptcy law, debtor/creditor law and employment law. She has conducted hundreds of training sessions relating to harassment, discipline and other employment law matters and co-authored two articles for the North Dakota Law Review. She is also a member of Minnesota Women Lawyers and serves on the board of directors of the Forum of Executive Women.
Larison outlined the definition of sexual harassment for her audience. It is behavior, sexual in nature or sex-based, that is deliberate or repeated and unwelcome. Article VII states that it is the prohibition of an employer from discriminating “against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin.”
Only after a Supreme Court decision in 1974 was sexual harassment considered a form of discrimination. Since then, the basis of sexual harassment claims has been under constant scrutiny.
There are two types of sexual harassment, Larison said.
Quid pro quo harassment happens when “sexual consideration is demanded in exchange for tangible job benefits, such as hiring, promotion, raise in salary or refraining from firing.” Hostile work environment harassment includes verbal abuse and offensive jokes of a sexual nature. In either case, the harasser’s goal is to intimidate the victim and to attempt to control other people’s behavior.
Larison said because people feel awkward talking about being sexually harassed, it is difficult for them to come forward.
Niloufer Merchant, interim director at the Women’s Center, understands.
“A lot of us have heard of this,” Merchant said. “How do you keep current on these issues? Sometimes people begin to think that these issues don’t exist.”
“It contains the word sex,” Larison said. “Most people are uncomfortable with the word.”
Anyone can be a perpetrator of harassment, whether members of the same sex or non-employees.
“I’ve learned what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable in the workplace has changed,” Larison said. “We are in different places and we need to come together and it’s a very hard thing to do.”
As times change, so do comfort levels; what one person says can be easily be misinterpreted. Larison advised her audience to think before speaking in the workplace.
“How do you know that what your doing is welcomed by the other person?” Larison asked. “Where do we cross the line?”
To those who have been or are being harassed, Larison offered four tips.
Don’t ignore the behavior. Victims need to communicate to their harassers that they want the behavior to stop.
Talk to other people. The victim should tell others what is happening to them and how it makes them feel; this can help them find support and reassurance, as well as establish a witness.
Document the harasser’s behavior(s). The victim should write down everything - the time, place and details of the behavior and what they did to try to stop the behavior.
Get help. When actions alone do not create an improvement, use workplace policies and procedures to deal with the harassment.
Larison also said that anyone who observes harassment needs to not only speak up, but confront the harasser if possible.
“Statistics show that 95 percent of people harassed do nothing about it,” Larison added. “The number one thing people do is ignore it. Don’t ignore it. Do something about it.
“Stand up. Say something.”
