Discrimination and Harassment

in the Workplace
 Definition: Workplace
Harassment
To “harass” means “to irritate or torment persistently; to
bully.”

Every employee is entitled to freedom from harassment

in the workplace. It is illegal when an employer or an
employer’s agent (e.g., supervisor; foreman) harasses
an employee without a just cause.
 Unlawful Harassment
• Verbal or physical conduct which denigrates (defames; attacks the
reputation of) or shows hostility or aversion to an individual because of
that person’s race, creed, colour, religion, gender, national origin,
age, disability, or marital status

In general, harassment is any form of behaviour that:

• makes the employee feel humiliated (the behaviour puts him/her

down), offended, or intimidated.

• has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with that person’s

work or performance, or has the purpose or effect of creating an
intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment, or otherwise
adversely affects that individual’s employment opportunities
 Discrimination in the
Workplace
• Discrimination is treatment or consideration based on class or
category, rather than on an individual's merits.

• Discriminatory practices include bias at the time of interviewing or

hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, compensation, and
various forms of harassment. It also is unlawful for an employer to
retaliate against any individual for opposing or for filing a
discrimination charge, or for testifying, assisting or participating in an
investigation, a proceeding, or a hearing
Discrimination & Harassment in the
Workplace

THE PHILIPPINES
 ACTS AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Republic Act No. 7877, otherwise known as the “Anti-
Sexual Harassment Act of 1995

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7877

     
An act declaring sexual harassment unlawful in the employment,
education or training environment, and for the other purposes.

Republic Act No. 7877 mandates every employer or head of

agency in the public and private sectors to promulgate rules and
regulations prescribing the procedure for the investigation of
sexual harassment cases and the administrative sanctions
 FORMS OR SEXUAL HARASSMENT
 
Section 5. The following are illustrative forms of sexual
harassment:

(a) Physical
 
Malicious Touching;
ii. Overt sexual advances;
iii. Gestures with lewd insinuation.

(b) Verbal, such as but not limited to, requests or demands for
sexual favors, and lurid remarks;
(c) Use of objects, pictures or graphics, letters or writing notes with
sexual underpinnings;
(d) Other forms analogous to the forgoing.
 ACTS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6725

An act strengthening the prohibition on discrimination against
women with respect to terms and condition of employment.

Art. 135. Discrimination Prohibited. — It shall be unlawful for any

employer to discriminate against any woman employee with
respect to terms and conditions of employment solely on account
of her sex.
 The following are acts of discrimination:

(a) Payment of a lesser compensation, including wage, salary or

other form of remuneration and fringe benefits, to a female
employee as against a male employee, for work of equal value.

(b) Favoring a male employee over a female employee with

respect to promotion, training opportunities, study and
scholarship grants solely on account of their sexes. 
 SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Arsenio Lizaso, a professor of mass communications at St. Paul University

(formerly St. Paul College) in Quezon City, said his student filed the charges
against him “because she had no legitimate excuse for failing nine out of 10 of her
subjects that semester.” “It would have been impossible for me to text and call her
all the time, as she had accused me of doing,” Lizaso said. More importantly,
according to the theater director, he was “terribly busy” during that time. “I was
preparing for the 31st ITI-UNESCO World Congress from July 2005 to June
2006. It would have been inconceivable for me to waste my time harassing
somebody,” he said. Lizaso also denied having kissed the girl on the face, saying
he was with his production staff on the night he was supposed to have met his
student at Club Filipino

The complainant also alleged that in March 2006, Lizaso told her to meet him in
Club Filipino in San Juan so she could submit her school project to him. “The
respondent allegedly managed to kiss the complainant on her face despite her
efforts to evade this unwanted sexual transgression,” the resolution said.
 Resolution
The case was elevated to the Metropolitan Trial Court Branch
31. Court records showed that the respondent had posted a
P2,000 cash bond for his temporary liberty.
United States of America

DISCRIMINATION & HARASSMENT IN THE

WORKPLACE
 ANTI-DISCRIMINATION
LAWS
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII):

• Prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and

national origin.

• Unlawful to discriminate in such areas as recruitment, selection,

promotion, discipline, training, and details, and etc.

• The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA): Protects men and women who
perform substantially equal work from sex-based wage discrimination.

• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA):

Prohibits employment discrimination against individuals who are 40
years of age or older.
 EXAMPLES OF
HARASSING BEHAVIOR
• Verbal: derogatory comments, racial or sexual epithets,
requests for sexual favors, sexual innuendoes, offensive
jokes or stories, repeated propositioning.
• Non-Verbal: Staring, derogatory or suggestive gestures,
winking, throwing kisses, shunning, and ostracizing.
• Visual: offensive pictures, photos, cartoons, posters
calendars, magazines or objects.
• Physical: unwelcome touching, hugging, kissing,
patting, stroking, standing too close.
• Written: unwelcome personal letters, notes or emails.
 CASE
• Meritor Saving Bank v. Vinson (1986)

• Mechelle Vinson sued Sidney Taylor, the Vice President of the

bank after being dismissed from her job.

Grounds:

• Discrimination based on sex created a hostile work

environment

Question: 

• Did the Civil Rights Act prohibit the creation of a "hostile

environment" or was it limited to tangible economic
discrimination in the workplace?
 Conclusion
• The Court held that the language of Title VII was "not limited to
'economic' or 'tangible' discrimination," finding that Congress intended
"'to strike at the entire spectrum of disparate treatment of men and
women' in employment. . ." The Court noted that guidelines issued by
the EEOC specified that sexual harassment leading to noneconomic
injury was a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII.

• The Court recognized that plaintiffs could establish violations of the

Act "by proving that discrimination based on sex has created a hostile
or abusive work environment."
Summary of Harassment &
Discrimination Laws
 Stakeholders Involved in
Harassment/Discrimination Case
Management

Other
Shareholders
Employees

Discriminated
or Harassed
Employee

Customers Competitors
 Pro-Active Discrimination
Case: New Law introduced in
Norway
 New Law Introduced in
Norway
2002 law passed in Norway requiring that 40 percent of all company board
members be women.

State-owned companies given until 2006 to comply and publicly listed

companies until 2008.

Previously Norwegian women held less than 7 percent of private-sector

board seats; just under 5 percent of chief executives were women

Nearly eight years on, the share of female directors at the roughly 400
companies affected is above 40 percent, while women fill more than a
quarter of the board seats at the 65 largest privately held companies
 Consequences of the Law
Since 2002, women named to board seats have been, on average, seven
years younger than the men they replaced. They are more likely to have
an M.B.A. degree, but come from middle management, not the
executive suite.

A Michigan study found that as the boards in Norway grew younger and
more inexperienced, company performance declined. This occurred
despite average annual gains of more than 14 percent in Oslo’s
benchmark stock index during the 2001-7 study period
 Consequences of the Law
The six-fold increase in women as directors has not yet brought any real
rise in the number of women as chief executives.

Potential risks in sacrificing experience for the sake of social equity.

• Easier for new members to be manipulated

• As a newcomer “it’s not always easy to see what’s going on in a board“

women who rise to boards too soon risk damaging their careers if they
fail to perform
 Analysis
• The Michigan researchers acknowledge that the study represents an
early snapshot of the law’s effects.

• “It is still possible that these women will gain experience and in a few
years the effect will go away,” Ms. Dittmar (Researcher)

• It is not clear why so few women rise to senior management.

• Some argue that Norway’s 46 weeks of paid maternity leave for

mothers (fathers get 10 weeks) actually place those who aspire to
senior management at a disadvantage. Others say women are more
reluctant than men to sacrifice family time
 Analysis
Men being forced out of their job to be replaced by less experienced
women.

Equality gone crazy?

In the UK minorities are given special benefits their English counterparts

would not receive.

Such policies aim to promote equality and stop discrimination, but they
can cause resentment and harbor bad feelings to an already
marginalised minority
 Implementation by other
Countries
Spain and the Netherlands have passed similar laws, with a 2015
deadline for compliance.

The French Senate will soon debate a bill phasing in a female

quota by 2016.

Belgium, Britain, Germany and Sweden are considering

legislation
Ethical Principles
 Utilitarianism

Value is determined from the amount of good

someone/something contributes to society
Certain characteristics, such as race, gender, religious
beliefs, and age, should not be the primary basis for a
person’s value.
Kant’s categorical imperative
#2

Others are to be treated as ends in themselves, and not

merely as means.

In harassment, people are treated as means.

As a means to display power (e.g. abuse in the workplace)

As a means to obtain things outside of work-related obligations (e.g.

sexual harassment)

As a means to gain advantage in the workplace.

 Justice

Justice is a principle that espouses fairness and protects

values in society.

Can also be seen as a virtue that upholds the welfare of

society in general, and individuals to a certain extent.

People should be given a chance to prove their worth

Everyone deserves to be treated humanely.

Vinson-Meritor Savings Bank
case
Vinson was treated as a means to sexual gratification,
was terminated when deemed “useless”

Law seeks to ensure equal treatment and further the

welfare of the individual.
People are not commodities to serve another
individual’s interests.
WHAT SHOULD A VICTIM
OF HARASSMENT DO?
• 1. Talk to Your Employer

Know your rights.

Stick to the facts.

Don't be overly emotional.

Decide the next steps.

Follow up with your employer.

• 2. Document the Problem

• 3. Don't Miss Legal Deadlines

 TRAINING AND ASKING
FOUR QUESTIONS…
1. “Do I treat the people I work with as equals?”
2. “Do I say or do anything relating to protected
groups/persons that I would not say or do in their
presence?
3. “If a remark or action was directed at me mainly
because of something that distinguishes me from
others, would I appreciate the comment?”

4. “Would I want what I say or do to appear in the local

paper or on the TV news?”
Discrimination and Harassment in
the Workplace
It is easy to become a
victim of harassment or
discrimination in the
workplace

But you could also be

accused of such
activities!

Know your rights as an

Employee or Employer!

Be Aware of your actions at work!