Sexual Harassment and the Real North Country: Revelations of an Expert Witness

Identifying information concerning incidents of sexual harassment has been changed to protect the anonymity of the parties involved.

Organizations with similar occupational segregation and gender-skewness problems demonstrate that these types of environments are at high risk for sexually hostile environments. For example, a U.S. District Court judge gave consent for a proposed settlement in a high-profile case against Salomon Smith Barney, which included allegations that women were harassed by senior male workers in the interestingly termed “boom-boom room” of a branch office in New York. Merrill Lynch had significant problems with sexual harassment and paid hundreds of millions of dollars to settle with most of the claimants. Some Merrill Lynch female employees believe that the company has not made significant progress in addressing sexual harassment (Cummings and Cohen 2002). In yet another high-profile case in the securities industry, executives of the brokerage house First Asset Management (formally, Lew Lieberman and Co.) agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle a government lawsuit in which top managers were accused of sexually harassing female workers and discriminating against women and blacks in raises and promotion (Weiser 1998). Finally, Morgan Stanley settled a discrimination suit (brought by the EEOC) for $54 million. A former Morgan Stanley employee brought the complaint alleging widespread sex discrimination at the firm, including strip-club outings with clients and higher pay for men (Bobelian, 2004).

This is not to suggest that the goal of a more gender-balanced workforce is not a desirable one. In fact, the research indicates that gender-balanced work groups are far less plagued by all of manner of sexually harassing behaviors. However, the implementation of plans to diversify is generally a long-term effort and an organization serious about eliminating sexual harassment must take intermediary steps in order to eradicate such behaviors in a timely manner.