With all the sexual harassment allegations on the rise in the entertainment world and media, is it time for sexual harassment training in the workplace?

Theodora Lee, who has a law firm and offers anti-harassment and bullying training to companies, received one request in November.

However, this year, she said she's received 10 in the wake of scandals among prominent men like Pixar's John Lasseter, film mogul Harvey Weinstein, and Al Franken.

In the state of California, and our neighbor to the south - Connecticut, employers who have 50 or more employees are required by state law to offer harassment training to supervisors.

In our state of Maine, companies with as few as 15 employees have to provide a program.

It seems more and more anti-sexual harassment training is in high demand. Maybe more so now than any other time in our history.

Is it ok to compliment a co-worker on how they look or how nice their outfit is or is that considered sexual harassment these days?

Here is a short list of what some might deem as sexual harassment.

  • Making unwanted advances toward someone. To ask someone on a date is one thing, but if you continually do it and get denied, you're crossing the line and it could lead down a bad road for you.
  • Name calling. You might think it's ok to nickname someone on the job, but if they don't like it, you could find yourself involved with being accused of harassment, especially if the nickname is sexual.
  • Sharing a joke or photos. Telling a sexual, crude joke in the workplace, or showing some sort of pornographic photo could be considered as sexual harassment.
  • Touching. There are men and women who like to express themselves by touching. Maybe touching an arm or hand. Or when opening the door for someone, they place their hand on someone's back. This could be dangerous as it could be misconstrued as a sexual advance and fall under the sexual harassment cloak.

Are we just a hyper-sensitive society? Or are these legitimate problems in the workplace that should not be happening?

Let us know your experiences and thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. In this day and age, these things probably shouldn't be taken lightly or it could lead to big trouble for many people.

 

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