What Harvey Weinstein?s conviction can teach us about harassment at work

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On Wednesday in New York, fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and sentenced to 23 years jail.

Testimony from ex-employee, Miriam Haley, detailed how Weinstein would blur professional and personal lines in concerted attempts to coerce Haley into sexual acts she did not want.

When this case first came to light in 2016, backlash against Weinstein?s behaviour inspired the global Me Too movement, with many people feeling empowered to go public with their own stories of harassment.

In a victim statement read out in court, Haley said that Weinstein had ?not only stripped me of my dignity as a human being and as a woman, it diminished my confidence and faith in myself. ? It is time people who rape other people pay with their life and the life they took.?

But despite the high profile nature of the Weinstein case and subsequent Me Too movement, doubts still linger about whether workplaces will change for the better.

Emma Swan, partner and head of commercial employment law at Forbes Solicitors believes that while more employees might be galvanized to speak up in the future due to Weinstein?s conviction, many remain fearful that they won?t get a fair hearing.

?High profile cases such as this do create some confidence among employees to speak up about harassment and take action,? Swan told the HR Grapevine website.

?However, many more potential cases will go unreported as employees fear they won?t get a fair hearing among management or that management is not best-placed to properly investigate their complaints,? she added.

A recent study by HR organisation CIPD revealed that 12% of employees had experienced some form of harassment at work ? and of these bullied or harassed, 40% said that their manager was responsible.

?The?Weinstein?case epitomises how long fear can manifest itself and how this can suppress reports of harassment,? said Swan.

That said, Swan believes there are measures that companies can put in place in light of the Weinstein conviction to ensure that staff feel that they can speak up about inappropriate behaviour.

?Companies need to create workplace cultures where employees have the confidence that there will be no bias or reluctance among managers and leaders to properly investigate complaints of harassment. Policies and practices which involve external parties like lawyers to handle and look into claims can build this confidence,? explained Swan.

?Using an independent party reassures employees that complaints will be given the time, diligence and objectivity required to establish the facts. It?s also a very effective means of getting to the truth in a more controlled, private and immediate manner, which benefits both employers and employees,? she added.

However as conflict management expert David Liddle points out, workplace harassment incidents are a potential minefield that should be handled with care.

?There is an over-reliance on policies to tackle sexual harassment which damages organisations. The formal procedures that HR people were so keen to follow have ended up shooting them in the foot,? said Liddle.

?More generally, organisations need to transform from closed-off cultures governed by fear of speaking up, to people-centred, values-driven cultures, where dialogue and collaboration are seen as a priority,? he explained.

?Creating a workplace culture where employees feel comfortable reporting complaints of harassment to senior leaders is imperative to prevent issues from escalating in future,? added Swan.

?This would be a good starting point for HR and employers alike.?

Parts of this article first appeared on the HR Grapevine website.