U. teaches rules on sexual harassment

In light of two recent Supreme Court decisions that make it easier for workers to hold their employers accountable for instances of sexual harassment, Penn is seeking to make sure that employees are familiar with all aspects of the University's harassment policies. Officials want to re-emphasize their "100 percent zero tolerance" of sexual harassment, according to Associate General Counsel Eric Tilles. Though Penn has not changed its sexual harassment policies since November 1995, these recent rulings prompted the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Affirmative Action and other Penn resource centers to educate and inform supervisors of existing policies. Penn has already taken several steps to ensure that employees and supervisors throughout the University are well-informed. In addition to republishing brochures listing resource centers, sexual harassment policies will be published in the Almanac -- the University's journal of record -- within the next 1 1/2 months. The Office of Affirmative Action held two two-day training sessions for its employees so they could pass the knowledge on to other University workers, according to Valerie Hayes, the office's executive director. Covering sexual harassment is "only a part of a program in employment discrimination law," she said. Penn's sexual harassment policy covers students, as well. Last June, the Supreme Court presided over two cases concerning sexual harassment, Faragher v. Boca Raton and Ellerth v. Burlington Industries. Although the Supreme Court ruled to remand both cases to lower courts, the justices ruled that "a company may be liable for the acts of a supervisor whether or not the company knew what the supervisor was doing," said attorney Anita Weinstein of the Philadelphia law firm of Cozen & O'Connor. "Education at all levels is the key." For the most part, sexual harassment complaints "go to deans, the Office of Affirmative Action, the provost [and] the ombudsman" Tilles said. For this reason it was a high priority issue to ensure that deans and department chairpersons were made aware of these policies early on. "The resource centers have been out there," Tilles said. "[One can] choose whatever avenue is most comfortable if someone believes they have an issue."

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