Sexual Harassment Litigation

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious and costly problem for corporate employers as well. Based on reports by women, an estimated 40%-90% of working women have experienced on-the-job sexual harassment. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state and local agencies have received over 14,000 sexual harassment charges every year since 1992. In April 2003, the EEOC announced its largest sexual harassment settlement ever in the State of New York for $5.4 million, plus remedial relief on behalf of female hospital workers. In 1998, Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing settled a sexual harassment complaint, brought on behalf of 300 female employees, for $34 million. A 1999 EEOC-brokered settlement with Ford Motor Co. — $7.5 million in compensation, $10 million to train managers and male workers to stop offensive behavior, an agreement to triple the number of female supervisors in plants and to withhold raises and promotions from managers at any Ford plant who failed to stop harassment from occurring – did not persuade a federal district judge to deny an attempt by 14 Ford female workers to convert their lawsuits into a class action. There are also indirect costs. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that American businesses lose almost $1 billion annually from absenteeism, low morale, and new employee training replacement costs due to sexual harassment.

This article reviews the psychological research literature on the legal standard applied in sexual harassment cases and on the abuse defense sometimes used in those cases.