Org Comm Paper

Running Head: SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE AND COMM 1
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace and
How it Effects Communication
Thomas Allen
Western Kentucky University
Communication 362- Organizational Communication
Dr. Payne
Spring 2015

What is Sexual Harassment?
We are all aware of the term “Sexual Harassment” and the idea behind the phrase, but it
extends much further than most of us expect. Not only is it a surface conversation, look, or
touch, but it goes deeper into the psyche and affects how we act and how we interact. Merriam-
Webster defines sexual harassment as “an unwelcome verbal or physical behavior of a sexual
nature especially by a person in authority toward a subordinate.” This means it occurs often
enough in the workplace to be part of the definition. When something like this happens it can
throw a wrench in the cogs of an organization and destroy all lines of communication and trust.
What are the Effects?
Many papers have been written and research done on sexual harassment in the workplace,
so finding information on it is relatively easy. One such paper has shown that there are real world
effects from these occurrences. “Research has documented some of the negative effects of
harassment experiences, including decreased morale and increased absenteeism U.S. Merit
Systems Protection Board, 1981, 1987), decreased job satisfaction (Gruber, 1992),job loss
(Coles, 1986; Crull, 1982; Loy & Stewart, 1984), and deteriorating relationships with coworkers
(Gutek, 1985; Loy & Stewart, 1984).” This paper was written based on research conducted on a
group of participants who were tested to see how they were affected by the harassment. These
women were offended and upset multiple times by the harassment over the 24 month project.
This directly affects how people communicate with others, especially when they are forced to
work with those offending and upsetting them.

A nursing PhD student from the University of Texas, Christine Kane-Urrabazo, tackled
sexual harassment in her own field. “A study done by Duldt (1982) found that approximately
60% of RNs surveyed, both male and female, had experienced some form of sexual harassment
while on the job by a physician, supervisor, co-worker, patient or visitor.” 2
While sexual
harassment is most thought of on affecting women, men are also affected in many cases as well.
She describes this as being part of the hygiene factors developed by Herzberg. The lack of the
hygiene factors creates dissatisfaction with a job. She also states that, “Sexual harassment also
affects both directly and indirectly, interpersonal relations with supervisors, peers and
subordinates.” 3 These relations are crucial to success because they are the line for
communication between the levels of an organization.
Many people who are harassed have their communication outlets taken away from them
out of fear, embarrassment, or anxiety. A journalist for Nature, a weekly science journal shared
her story online and in person with many people in her field.4 She explained that she had to close
out some of her social media sites and considered leaving her career due to the harassment. This
directly shows an impact on communication. This is reiterated in the fact that many women had
come to her only after she had made her stand. The trust and connections between co-workers
and between the levels of employees are strained in these situations and can easily break if
pushed too far.
How Do Organizations React?
Organizations react to sexual harassment in many different ways based on size, region,
and culture. Many organizations like the U.S. department of State have different levels and ways
to treat these occurrences. One way is to have a mediation session between both parties.5 This is

where both parties meet with a neutral third party counselor to talk about the issue. Sometimes
mediation isn’t enough and the organization is forced to act further to stop the harassment. This
could be done in multiple different ways. The guilty party could be relocated, demoted, or even
fired if it is deemed necessary. Most organizations take sexual harassment very seriously as there
can be massive lawsuits that they would have to pay. In 2014, the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission was paid over $300,000 by Wal-Mart to settle a lawsuit over sexual
harassment and retaliation. These types of cases make an organization not only lose money, but
it damages their reputation.
Case Study Organization
The organization I will be conducting my case study on is Logan Aluminum. Logan
Aluminum is an aluminum processing factory in Logan County, KY. There are over 1,000
people employed there to keep it running 24 hours a day. The main work force is machine
operators who watch over and work with the various machines. They are divided up into teams
within each section of the factory. These teams are all under an area supervisor and all area
supervisors under the shift supervisor. There are more sub-categories in the hierarchy of the
factory as, but these are the main ones.
Communication in this organization travels vertically. Exceptions are when a subordinate
has a complaint, or concern about their direct supervisor, and in this case there is an open door
policy. Communication takes place in various forms within the factory. There is email, walkie
talkies, and phones for people to relay messages.

Research Plan
The question I want to pose in this case study is, “How does sexual harassment affect the
communication between levels in a large factory setting?” Since factories have a larger work
area with less person to person contact on a daily basis does the strain put on relationships by
sexual harassment play as big of a role as it would in an office? While factories do have offices,
many of the employees are out on the floor most of the time. There is still an element of
communication involved, so I assume that it could still have an effect on how subordinates
would go to their supervisors in this type of situation.
I plan to get in contact with the human resources department and set up some interviews.
In these interviews I can get an idea of any sexual harassment issues they have seen and dealt
with in the factory. I will also see if there have been more reported cases of harassment during
the same time spans as others or if they are spread out. I would also see if anyone who had
reported any harassment would like to give a firsthand account of their reaction to the occurrence
and how it has affected their work life. I will also ask if the feel like they can trust their
supervisor and the company. I would need to see if the harassed party felt like they could
communicate up the chain, or if because of their situation, they felt as if they should keep quiet.
I should be able to get all the interviews I need done in two visits at most. I can conduct
phone interviews at any time as well. The timeframe I would need for this would be 1-2 weeks
just to gather the information.

Analysis
I was able to gather some information on the topic of sexual harassment within
the factory by speaking with a couple members of the human resources department. With a
company so large the human resources department was also large, so I was only able to speak
with a couple members. I also spoke with my dad who is in maintenance and gets to travel
around the factory, thus acquiring insight and information on the plant as a whole.
Most of the human resources department was women, so the largest targeted population
of sexual harassment was well represented. I was able to get both the factory approved approach
on sexual harassment as well as personal opinions from most interviewees. Those interviewed
were Misty, Joyce, and my father Tommy.
My first interview was with Misty, who is actually a friend of my family, so she was easy
to get in touch with. She provided me with the measures with which the company treats any case
of sexual harassment. There is a strict no-tolerance policy that provides an immediate
investigation in the matter, and if proven, the guilty party was then put on leave, probation, and
made to attend sensitivity training. If this happens a second time, the employee is fired.
I asked how often this happened in the factory, and with the population being mostly
men, it is a low percentage. But, most of the reported sexual harassment was still done by men to
the smaller group of women who work there. Also, she said that it seemed like it was more rare
in the factory than other jobs she had, mostly because the communication wasn’t constant and
menial. Most of the talking in the factory had to be at almost a yell since the machines were so

loud. The reported cases of sexual harassment usually happened on breaks outside, or in the
break room.
I asked Misty how she felt sexual harassment affected the communication within the
organization, and she said adversely. The people who reported the sexual harassment quit more
often, and also their work suffered while they were still there. Even if it wasn’t a manager
position employee who harassed them, the employees felt like they couldn’t trust the managers
to look out for them or care for their well-being.
Joyce also gave me the company policy and agreed with many of the things Misty said.
She also told me about a time at an old job where she had been talking with an assistant manager
in his office about a raise. She had recently been divorced and needed more money to help feed
her children. She was told in return for sexual favors she could get the raise. Instead, she reported
him and he was removed from the company. Something like this only happened once to her, but
she had been made to feel uncomfortable by advances of some coworkers. That prompted me to
ask her what the line between casual flirting and sexual harassment is. She said the line was thin
and different with each person. While some of her coworkers loved being talked to in a
provocative nature, she always felt uncomfortable when someone complimented her more than
“you look nice today.”
My dad, Tommy, agrees with most of the things said by my other two interviewees, but
from a man’s perspective hasn’t seen a lot of it himself. He has however, heard many things
going on in the factory for fourteen years since he gets to visit every corner helping fix most of
the machines. He said that when someone is accused of sexual harassment, everyone treats them
differently. They have a stigma about them that makes them easily ostracized. Leaving a team

member out of decisions and conversations directly impacts communication. The factory is big
on having a team feel, and that is a direct opposition to this feeling. He said that many teams
have had to go through extra team building sessions to overcome issues like that. Many of those
teams had to be dispersed and rebuilt because of the damaged relationships.
I asked him about when he started, and if they spoke to them about sexual harassment. He
said they went over policies, but only lightly touched on it. Many of the employees don’t even
know the factories policy on it since it was only touched on and not thoroughly explained. He
said the only reason he knew it was because he is a manager of maintenance himself and needs to
be current on policies.
Speaking with each of the employees told me a lot about the feelings towards sexual
harassment. It seems to be something that we react to instead of prevent. Many places have
orientations where they tell you about the company, what your job will be, and many company
policies, but only lightly touch on sexual harassment. This company falls under this category.
While it isn’t something all employees see every day, it is something that can change careers and
lives almost as quickly as a workplace accident.
I believe that companies should spend at least one day during the orientation period on
interactions. This could cover many things from sexual harassment, to communicating between
coworkers and superiors, to social media. But, this would give enough time allotted for each
employee to understand what they can and cannot say or do to another employee. They can also
be taught the repercussions if they choose to do these things. This could deter many acts of
sexual harassment if they knew just how serious the company took it ahead of time. Knowing

that you could lose your career and just how much your words affect others could be
instrumental in keeping people from harassing others.

Running Head: SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE AND COMM
10
References
1. Fitzgerald, L. Swan, S. & Schneider, K. (1997) Job-Related and Psychological Effects of
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Empirical Evidence From Two Organizations. The Journal
of Applied Psychology pg. 401
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libsrv.wku.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=34fd0b2a-a750-4d87-
9448-19ea839c78ba%40sessionmgr4005&vid=0&hid=4208
2, 3. Kane-Urrabazo, C. (2007) Sexual harassment in the workplace: it is your problem. The
Journal of Nursing Management pg. 610, 611
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libsrv.wku.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=49371cbc-cd7a-436a-
8168-c46d0952e0fa%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=114
4. Raven, K. (2013) How Sexual Harassment Change the Way I Work. Nature, International
Weekly Journal of Science.
http://www.nature.com/news/how-sexual-harassment-changed-the-way-i-work-1.14293
5. The U.S. Department of State. Sexual Harassment Policy.
http://www.state.gov/s/ocr/c14800.htm

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