Why sexual harassment complaints fall on deaf ears

Academy of Management Executive

Volumn 12, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 41-54

  Peirce, Ellen ^a,b,c   Smolinski, Carol A ^d   Rosen, Benson ^e,f,g,h  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA   (United States)

^b BRYN MAWR COLLEGE   (United States)

^c DUKE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^d UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA   (United States)

^e IL   (United States)

^f AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION   (United States)

^g Academy of Management

^h Society for Human Resources Management   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0042913714     PISSN: 10795545     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5465/ame.1998.1109049     Document Type: Article

References (55)

1. New York Times. 1997. Top Enlisted Man in the Army Stands Accused of Sexual Assault. February 4: A1.
2. Wall Street Journal. 1996. EEOC Sues Mitsubishi Unit for Harassment. April, 10: A1.
3. BusinessWeek. Abuse of Power: The Astonishing Tale of Sexual Harassment at Astra U.S. May 13, 1996, 86-98.
4. Wall Street Journal. 1996. Wall Street Fails to Stem Rising Claims of Sex Harassment and Discrimination. May 26: C1.
5. U.S. Army News Release. 1996. Army Investigates Allegations of Sexual Misconduct and Rape in Training Command. November 7: No. 96-78.
6. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission News Release. 1995. EEOC Settles Sexual Harassment Suit Against Del Laboratories. August 3. (Available by telephoning (212) 748-8406.)
7. San Francisco Chronicle. 1996. Chevron Suit a Big Test on Gender Bias: Corporate America Watching Closely. October 14: A1
8. New Yoik Times. 1998. $34 Million Dollars Settles Suit for Women at Auto plant. June 12: A1.
9. Washington Post National Weekly Edition. 1997. Confronting Hard-Core Harassers. January 27: 6-9.
10. EEOC Sexual Harassment Statistics for fiscal year 1990-fiscal year 1996. This report can be obtained from the EEOC by writing the EEOC at 1801 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20507 or faxing a request to (202)-663-4912.
11. Terpstra, D. E. and Baker, D. D. 1992. Outcomes of Federal Court Decisions on Sexual Harassment. Academy of Management Journal, 35, 181-190.
12. Working Woman. 1988. December.
13. Crull, P. Stress Effects of Sexual Harassment on the Job: Implications for Counseling, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52, 1982, 539-544.
14. rd Division, 3-94-1590; EEOC plaintiff & Gina Taylor and Deann Shane plaintiff interveners vs. Featherlite Mfg. Inc., Northern District of Iowa, Eastern Division, 93-C-2074; EEOC vs. Café Vienna, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 94-C-0925.
15. Peirce, E., Rosen, B., and Hiller, T. B. 1998. Breaking the Silence: Creating User-Friendly Sexual Harassment Policies, The Employees Rights and Responsibilities Journal. 1997. Vol. 10 (3) 225-242.
16. New York Times. 1996. Harassment in 2d Grade? Queens Kisser is Pardoned. October 3: B1.
17. Under the EEOC Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Sex, 29 C.F.R. 61604.119(a), harassment on the basis of sex is a violation of Section 703 of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. δ2000e-2.
18. Gutek, B. A., Morasch, B. and Cohen, A. G. 1983. Interpreting Social Sexual Behavior in a Work Setting, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 22, 30-48.
19. Brown, A. D. 1997. Narcissism, Identity, and Legitimacy. Academy of Management Review, 22, 643-686.
20. Brown, A. D. Academy of Management Review, Ibid., 467-8.
21. Brown, A. D. Academy of Management Review, Ibid., 645.
22. Staw, B. M., McKechnie, P. I., & Puffer, S. M. 1983. Justification of Organizational Performance, Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 582-600.
23. Brown, Administrative Science Quarterly, op. cit., 646.
24. Bies, R. J. and Moag, J. S. 1986. Interactional Justice: Communication Criteria of Fairness, in R. J. Lewicki, B. H. Sheppard and M. H. Bazerman (Eds.), Research on Negotiation in Organizations, 43-55. Greenwich, CT.: JAI Press.
25. Gellerman, S. W. 1989. Managing Ethics From the Top Down, Shan Management Review, Winter, 73-79.
26. New York Times. 1997. Top Enlisted Man in the Army Stands Accused of Sexual Assault. February 4: A1.
27. Sun-Sentinel. 1996. Sex Claims Nothing to Ignore: $7 Million Harassment Verdict a Costly Lesson. December 12: 1D.
28. Some research on personality disorders suggests that many perpetrators of sexual harassment have narcissistic personalities. Narcissists often view their employees and coworkers as naive and incompetent. They often exploit others because they believe they are entitled to have whatever they want and often have a lack of empathy for other people. See McDonald, Jr., J. J. and Lees-Haley, P. R. 1996. Personality Disorders in the Workplace: How They May Contribute to Claims of Employment Law Violations, Employee Relations Law Journal, 22, 57-81.
29. Murphy, B. S., Barlow, W. E., and Hatch, D. D. 1992. Limits on Wrongful Discharge Damages: Manager's Newfront, Personnel Journal, 71, 19.
30. CNN. 1996. Army Widens Sexual Harassment Investigation. November 11. This article is available at the CNN Website http://www.cnn.com/US/9611/11/army.sex.2/index.html.
31. USA Today. 1996. Bias Lawsuit Spotlights Brokerages. November 18: 6B.
32. See the following articles for a more detailed discussion of sex-role spillover and the impact on the work environment. Gutek, B. A. and Morasch, B. 1982. Sex Ratios, Sex-Role Spillover and Sexual Harassment of Women at Work, Journal of Social Issues, 38, 55-74.
33. Tangri, S. S., Burt, M. R., and Johnson, L. B. 1982. Sexual Harassment at Work: Three Explanatory Models, Journal of Social Issues, 38, 33-54.
34. Kanter, R. M. 1977. Some Effects of Proportions in Group Life: Skewed Sex Ratios and Response to Token Women, American Journal of Sociology, 2, 965-990.
35. Wall Street Journal. 1996. Sexual-Harassment Cases Trip Up Foreign Companies. May 9: B3.
36. USA Today. 1996. Jackson, NOW Protest Mitsubishi. May 8: 18.
37. Webb, S. L. 1994. Shockwaves: The Global Impact of Sexual Harassment. New York: MasterMedia Ltd.
38. See BusinessWeek. 1997. Breaking Through. February 17;
39. BusinessWeek, 1990. BusinessWeek's Best Companies for Women, August 6;
40. Zeitz, B. and Dusky, L. 1988. The Best Companies for Women, New York: Simon and Schuster.
41. A number of resources are available to assist both small and large organizations in preventing and resolving sexual harassment issues. For assistance, see Levy, A. C. and Paludi, M. A. 1997. Workplace Sexual Harassment. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall;
42. Petrocelli, W. and Repa, B. K., Sexual Harassment on the Job. Berkeley: Nolo Press: Wagner, E. J. 1992.
43. Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. New York: AMACOM;
44. Bravo, E. and Cassedy, E. 1992. The 9 to 5 Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
45. Zeitz and Dusky, The 9 to 5 Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment, op. cit.
46. Zeitz and Dusky, The 9 to 5 Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment, op. cit.
47. Laabs, J. J., and Haight, M. 1995. What to Do When Sexual Harassment Comes Calling, Personnel Journal, 74, 42-49.
48. Webb, Personnel Journal, op. cit. The recommendations in this section are based on the work of Seattle-based sexual harassment expert Susan Webb.
49. Zeitz and Dusky, Personnel Journal, op. cit.
50. Zeitz and Dusky, Personnel Journal, op. cit.
51. Aalberts, R. J. and Seidman, L. H. 1996. Sexual-Harassment Policies for the Workplace: a Tale of Two Companies, Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 37, 78-86.
52. Laabs and Haight, Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly, op. cit.
53. Peirce, Rosen and Hiller, Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly, op. cit.
54. Laabs and Haight, Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly, op. cit.
55. Zeitz and Dusky, Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly, op. cit.