Sexual harassment is suddenly a hot topic. With the “#MeToo” movement sweeping across social media, the “Silence Breakers” on the cover of TIME, and new allegations of sexual improprieties against high-profile individuals in the news seemingly every day, many employers are reassessing their risks. Although a few high-dollar, high-profile harassment settlements have made the news, they are far from the norm. Contrary to the public perception generated by these high-profile cases, the threat of litigation has not been a huge driver of employer behavior. There are several reasons for this. There are also several reasons employers should focus on harassment at work to create a culture that discourages it.

When Title VII was originally passed in 1964, the concept of sexual harassment did not exist. The act of sexual harassment did, of course, exist and has been experienced for generations. And while Title VII outlawed discrimination based on sex, it took more than two decades of effort by litigators and feminist theorists such as Katherine McKinnon and Eleanor Holmes Norton before the United States Supreme Court recognized, in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson 477 U.S. 57 (1986), that a hostile work environment caused by sexual harassment was a form of discrimination prohibited by Title VII.

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