Human Resource departments have sexual harassment procedures

[SHRED]

But we can't have one in the Senate?
Just a rush to judgement?

I just don't get.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. They do have one in the senate.

It's been described as "toothless" and "a joke," which is why they're calling for an overhaul.

Sexual harassment policies vary widely; there isn't one right way to write one. If you sexually harass someone who isn't a co-worker while off the job, for example, it may not fall under the policy as written.

[leftstreet]

2. It's the new campaign issue

We protect women from waist-grabbing photo ops!

It's just too much work to fight the GOPers on the very policies that entrench sexism by gutting social services and depressing wages, thereby keeping women powerless and impoverished and systemically victimized.

But hey! We're better than Republicans because we have ZERO TOLERANCE for, uh, everything else!

[SHRED]

4. Great article here...

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5a2aa209e4b022ec613b8146

[leftstreet]

7. +1

spot on!

[dalton99a]

11. Agreed

Accusations against Franken, while worthy of inquiry, are not in the same legal or moral universe as the crimes of which Roy Moore, Harvey Weinstein, and numerous others, including the President himself, stand accused. Franken asked for the ethics investigation and has apologized for his behavior. And it should be noted that Franken is not accused of anything like pedophilia, or workplace harassment, or violent assault...

But Democrats didn’t ask us, and by deserting Senator Franken, they confirmed they don’t understand gender politics or much about sexual misconduct in the workplace at all. There is no greater disservice to women than creating an equivalency—a completely false equivalency—between the behavior of which Senator Franken is accused and the accusations against (Senator-to-be?) Moore, which include abduction and assault of a child. And yet this is the the false equivalency affirmed by Senator Gillibrand when she called for Franken’s resignation...

Lumping everything from ass grabbing to violent sexual assault, pedophilia, and rape together will not serve to heighten public outage at the type of behavior of which Franken is accused. It is far more to likely generate less outrage at the worst, most violent and predatory sexual crimes at the other end of the spectrum.

And to some survivors who know just how seriously sexual misconduct can damage lives and derail careers, this equivalency is an incredibly insensitive dismissal. While the notion of “zero tolerance” is nice, many victims of sexual assault and harassment can tell the Democrats that what they’ve endured is considerably worse than anything mentioned in connection with Franken.

[alarimer]

3. Procedures designed to protect the employer and not the employee.

They are meant to stave off lawsuits for harassment and nothing more.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Good point. It's not like these policies deter harassment, or effectively educate people on how to

comport themselves in the workplace.

[SHRED]

8. Not true

I attended many required classes at my job which were very enlightening and helpful.
This was the public sector. Maybe different in the private sector?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. Definitely diferent in the private sector -- and whether there are unions involved, as you note

elsewhere.

[bettyellen]

10. The massive company I worked at had serious guidelines but HR was all about protecting the company..

And also to give demerits to whoever the managers want to put some pressure on. Their plan for years had been to shed employees to overseas and they were too cheap to give everyone severance, so many people are under the constant threat of being fired. A good friend of mine has been under their lens for years, she's really broken and can't find a comparable job in NY. Some HR depts suck.

[SHRED]

6. Not necessarily

I was a union steward. I have been involved in hearings at work.
But this was the public sector.

[NotASurfer]

12. I think the Senate's policy on sexual harassment is backwards

It appears their sexual harassment policy is one that spells out the approved process for engaging in sexual harassment

They need to replace it with an anti-harassment policy including transparent remediation and consequences