Many companies hand out sexual harassment policies to employees upon their hire which state the company has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment. The policy lists certain prohibited behaviors and encourages individuals to bring complaints of inappropriate behavior to upper management.

However, is the company sexual harassment policy worth the paper it is written on?

As we have seen lately in the news, many manager and executives are aware of inappropriate behavior on occasion choose to turn a blind eye when the perpetrator is someone the company feels a need to protect.

Massachusetts law requires manager to take action upon learning of harassment, whether through a formal complaint or informal workplace discussions.

Employees who are being harassed should seek counsel to assist them with bringing a complaint of sexual harassment, especially if they are afraid of retaliation or encounter a lack of response from the company.