New EEOC Report: Workplace Harassment Prevention Not Working-Harassment Continues to be a Problem

You have been in Human Resources or management for years. Your plate is full-too much to do and to know in your increasingly stressful job. You are expected to stay current in discrimination and harassment case law for all the federal and state protected classes. Are you current? It seems like an unending responsibility. You remember hearing something in the news about a change in the pregnancy law, but can't remember what it was. You know that the American Disabilities Act and Title VII have expanded with something called an accommodation meeting, but what does that require? You heard that a company was required to pay a plaintiff an additional $1,000,000 because the company didn't do harassment training-could that be true? You have a company wellness program and have heard that employees are suing for discrimination based on the incentives offered for those who take part in the program. And it still isn't clear as to whether you can personally be sued for the misconduct.

• To review protected class discrimination and harassment
• To identify the EEOC's 2016 findings
• To update information on new discrimination & harassment court decisions related to GINA, ADAAA, Pregnancy, and Title VII
• To discuss the Affirmative Defense (AD) & your responsibility to reduce liability via AD
• To differentiate between bullying and protected class harassment
• To explore HR & management's legal and ethical responsibilities in prevention and intervention of bullying and harassment
• To describe the legal requirement of conducting an Accommodation Meeting
• To list the employment laws required for an organization's wellness program

• Review of the legal elements of discrimination and harassment law
• List of protected classes (for example, in MN there are 15 including state and federal laws)
• Specific requirements for compliance with GINA, ADAAA, and the PDA with discussion of recent legal cases for each
• In depth discussion of the need for "accommodations" for ADA, religion, and pregnancy
• Steps of an Accommodation Meeting and follow-up
• Discussion of the nexus of bullying and harassment
• What these changes in case law mean for employers
• Training and policy requirements

It is almost impossible for managers and HR professionals to stay current in the ever evolving civil rights case law due to their busy workload. As a result, discrimination and harassment may go unrecognized and allowed to continue creating a hostile work environment for employees resulting in absenteeism, turnover, loss of productivity and physical and emotional health consequences to the target and witnesses of the abuse. Failure of managers and HR professionals to recognize discrimination and harassment creates liability for the organization and costly lawsuits.

• HR Specialists
• HR Managers
• Directors
• Managers
• Supervisors of any Department

Dr. Susan Strauss is a national and international speaker, trainer, consultant and a recognized expert investigator on workplace and school harassment and bullying. She conducts harassment and bullying investigations and functions as an expert witness in harassment and bullying lawsuits. Her clients are from business, education, healthcare, law, and government organizations from both the public and private sector. 

Dr. Strauss also provides organizational, management, and employee development by conducting training, coaching, and facilitating workshops. She has been the Director of Training and Development and consults with a variety of organizations and industries, both large and small. Susan has also been the director of Wellness and has consulted with organizations to help them design, develop, implement and evaluate their Wellness programs. 

Susan has a doctorate in organizational leadership. She is a registered nurse, has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and counseling, a master’s degree in community health, and professional certificate in training and development. She has been involved in the harassment and bullying arena since 1985.