There is little doubt that claims of sexual harassment in social media have caught the attention of the mainstream media, a number of which are sensational in nature. Now, across the U.S. and Canada, claims of sexual harassment by women and men have been flooding in against politicians, actors, producers, musicians, athletes, trainers, etc., etc. Some claims go back decades, and some are more recent — most frequently involving persons in positions of power. Women in particular have been encouraged by other women and women’s groups to come forward with allegations of past sexual misconduct or assault. However, in many cases, charges under criminal law have never been laid by the authorities, and often claims were never brought forward by the victims. Too often, the victims were victimized by the system. Regularly, it has become a matter of his word against the victim’s word.
Unfortunately, all that one needs to do now is to make accusations via a tweet, e-mail or other social media source. Once out there, such accusations land in the so-called “court of public opinion”. Moreover, no one has been found guilty in a court of law or accountable by some form of “due process”. As a result, without further independent investigation, careers can be destroyed and reputations ruined. Many of the accusations can be found in work-related situations where there may not be any credible, objective and confidential process in place to determine the validity of harassment charges. Only in recent years have employers been required either by law or through internal policies to institute review processes when harassment claims are made.
However, it appears that both public sector and private sector employers have not been diligent in ensuring that harassment investigation processes are functioning well. Too often, it takes a scandal to become public to bring such inadequacies to the surface. This situation is no longer acceptable as evidenced by the public’s and shareholders’ outrage. As well, individuals being openly accused of sexual harassment are being forced to immediately step down from their positions with no access to due process. As for the alleged victims, one sees increasingly a public “backlash” against some when accusations are simply made through social media without verification as to their validity. What is now being portrayed as sexual harassment has become so broad that people are beginning to demand greater clarification as to its meaning, and rightly so.
Don’t get me wrong. The fact that the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace has been raised through both social and mainstream media is a good thing. However, there is obviously a real need for employers to quickly react in positive ways so as to prevent future claims of harassment and to protect employees in their workplaces. Independent, confidential and just processes must be in place to ensure fairness for both the accuser and the accused. We’ve seen what happens when unsubstantiated accusations become public. Indeed, we live in very thorny times.
