The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
FOCUS ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT
HARTFORD — When her union representative asked to meet her at a nearby restaurant after work, Amanda was wary.
The single mother had never met the man. But the school bus company that she drove for had not paid her for a few days she worked. She needed his help, so she agreed.
At the dinner, conversation between Amanda and the rep remained workrelated. They met one more time to discuss her wage issue — at his insistence. After that, the inappropriate texts started.
At first, it was comments on her beauty. Then, the man sent her a picture of his penis. He wanted to have sex with her, he said, again and again. When Amanda blocked his phone number, he sent her emails and showed up at her house. When she told him to stop, he told her how influential he was in the union.
“He was too powerful for me to stop,” Amanda said in a recent interview.
Stories like Amanda’s are not an anomaly. When sexual harassment accusations against Harvey Weinstein sparked the national #MeToo movement, the nation was blanketed with stories of indecency, sexism and abuses of power.
Among those actively listening are lawmakers. In Connecticut, two bills now before the General Assembly would dramatically expand sexual harassment training requirements for private companies in the state, bringing sweeping changes to local businesses.
With the media spotlight focused on sexual harassment reports, many victims finally feel they have a voice and — after a guilty verdict Thursday in the high-profile case of sexual assaulter Bill Cosby — increasing access to justice.
“Senate Democrats have made it our mission to declare ‘Time’s Up’ on sexual harassment,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven.
While most legislators agree that workplace sexual harassment needs to be
addressed, concerns about scaring off companies with costly regulations — particularly at time when Connecticut’s economy is struggling — has some lawmakers hesitant to pass the protections.
“It is so business unfriendly,” said Sen. Mike McLachlan, R-Danbury. “It’s just over the top and needs to be dialed back.”
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy countered Friday: “Sexual assault is anti-business. Sexual harassment is antibusiness. Toxic workforce environments are anti-business.”
Broad category of behaviors
At present, only supervisors must be trained on handling workplace sexual harassment. Both bills now before the General Assembly would require all Connecticut employees to be trained on sexual harassment.
They would also mandate smaller companies hold sexual harassment trainings. Only businesses with 50 or more employees now must conduct trainings.
A bill from Malloy would force businesses with 15 or more employees to train. And a more dramatic proposal from Looney would drop the number to three employees or more — along with a host of other changes to help victims.
“We don’t see this as a burdensome requirement,” said Looney. “The training doesn’t take all that long. It’s just important for people to know what the rules are.”
Whether either of these bills pass will be decided in the next week and a half. If one becomes law, the changes would take effect as soon as October.
There are hundreds of small businesses that are hoping these proposals fail, said Bridgeport Regional Business Council’s President and CEO Mickey Herbert.
“It’s the government being too invasive in our struggling small businesses,” he said.
David Lewis heads the largest human resources company in Connecticut, Norwalk-based Operations Inc., which conducts sexual harassment trainings. His business could profit greatly from the passage of these bills. But — noting that some will call him an “idiot” for saying this — Lewis said he’s against the proposed laws, calling them too “onerous” for companies.
There are even some business leaders who are still wondering if sexual harassment is pervasive.
“Is it really that prevalent?” asked Jack Condlin, Stamford Chamber of Commerce head.
The high rates of underreporting and broad category of behaviors that constitute sexual harassment — ranging from lewd jokes to sexist comments to unwanted touching — can make getting accurate numbers difficult. In research cited by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
40 to 75 percent of respondents said they had experienced sexual harassment when given examples.
Weighing the price
Herbert, Lewis and others in the business community say their opposition is not because they don’t see sexual harassment as a problem. Some companies already voluntarily train all their employees on sexual harassment because they want to stop it.
Instead, it’s the expense of the trainings for smaller companies that typically comes up as the biggest problem.
The state’s Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities provides multiple free sexual harassment trainings a month, but many companies end up turning to other providers. The CBIA charges $950 for a three hour session and other companies frequently collect $25 to $100 per person, said Mark Soycher, human resource counsel for CBIA.
Connecticut is one of only three states, along with
California and Maine, to require private sector employers to conduct sexual harassment training, the National Women’s Law Center said, although that could soon change as many states consider amending their laws.
“You are asking us to provide this costly training to 1.3 million employees, while at the same time incurring the cost of millions of hours of lost productivity,” said Eric Gjede, CBIA counsel.
An internet course could be an inexpensive option to accomplish the training, Malloy said Friday.
“I don’t think you are saying, particularly to small employers, that you have to go out and hire a specialist on this," he said. "I don’t support that.”
If cost is the issue, consider the price tag of a sexual harassment lawsuit, the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities said. Trainings and clear policies on sexual harassment can help prevent expensive suits.
A recent EEOC report also said sexual harassment can also have indirect costs to employers like “decreased productivity, increased turnover and reputational damage.”
“It’s too costly for us to not take steps in this direction,” said Laura Cordes, executive director of Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence.
Modernizing the law
Amanda, the school bus driver, never received any training on sexual harassment from her employer.
The policy on sexual harassment in her employee handbook was vague and did not give examples of what harassment really looks like. So when her union representative harassed her, she did not know what she was experiencing or what to do.
“If I had training before, that would never happen to me because I would know what to say,” she said.
Later when she received help from a nonprofit and tried to file a complaint with
CHRO, it was too late. A 180-day window to file had already passed. Looney’s bill would extend that window to three years.
The same man is still her union rep, and his harassment — which started four years ago — has not ceased.
Both Looney’s bill and the governor’s are “a strong step” toward modernizing Connecticut sexual harassment law, which hasn’t been touched since the early 1990s, said Kate Farrar, executive director of the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund.
Meanwhile, business advocates said the Governor’s bill was more “reasonable,” but Looney’s — requiring businesses with only three employees to do training – went too far.
Earlier votes on the bill show bipartisan support for acting on sexual harassment in some way.
The Appropriations Committee last week gave the Governor’s bill unanimous approval, after a unanimous yes vote from the Labor Committee in March. Looney’s bill was approved by the Judiciary Committee, by a vote of 25 to 16. All 16 voting against were Republicans but some GOP senators crossed over to support the bill.
“Sexual assault and violence has no place anywhere,” said Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, who voted for Looney’s bill. “When you start hearing the stories of the incredible, courageous survivors who have come forth, it’s a change in our norm that is so needed to raise the awareness.”
Hwang said he would vote for Looney’s bill regardless of his party’s position on it. His support may help Democrats push the bill through the Senate, which is tied 18-18. Democrats already have a majority in the House.
Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said some negotiations may bring the bill to a point where both parties can support it.