Sexual Harassment

Summary of the Case

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission handles allegations of sexual harassment. The commission pursued a case against Nurse One/Team One, LLC, a Nashville home health care agency, for “condoning a sexually hostile work environment in the home of one of its clients and firing one victim for complaining” (“Nurse One”, 2009). The case alleged that supervisors at Nurse One/Team One failed to address several nurses’ repeated claims that a client was sexually harassing them during home health visits. Their complaints included allegations of inappropriate touching and the client making sexual requests. However, instead of dismissing the client, or otherwise addressing the issue, the home health agency continued to staff the nurses in the patient’s home and even fired one nurse for complaining about the client (“Nurse One”, 2009). As explained by the EEOC, this is a violation of federal law.

Federal law protects individuals from sexual harassment, and similarly precludes employers from condoning such actions. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandates that employers provide their employees with a workplace free of discrimination, and free from harassment (including sexual advances and verbal harassment, such as requests for sexual favors) (“Nurse One”, 2009; “Sexual harassment”, n.d.). While the law does make a distinction between “simple teasing” and “offhand comments”, it is also very clear. Such actions constitute sexual harassment when they create an offensive or hostile work environment for the employee (“Sexual harassment”). Notably, the EEOC is not alone in their position against sexual harassment.

The American Nurses Association released a position statement regarding sexual harassment. In this statement, the ANA (1993) confirms its commitment to a person’s civil rights and opposition to any form of sexual discrimination. According to the statement, sexual harassment adversely affects the healthcare environment, and nurses should have the ability to work in an environment that is free from these stressors (“ANA Position”, 1993). However, the ANA’s stance on sexual harassment does not end here.

Nursing Code of Ethics

The American Nurses Association has developed a comprehensive code of ethics that establishes an ethical standard for the nursing profession. Provision 1.5 of the code precludes any form of sexual harassment and sets forth parameters for the interpersonal relationships between nurses, other health care providers, and their patients (“Code”, n.d.). Further, Provision 2.4 establishes professional boundaries between nurses and patients, or nurses and other colleagues (“Code”, n.d.). Any form of sexual harassment crosses these boundaries.

Prevention in a Healthcare Institution

Lastly, while sexual harassment is sometimes encountered in the workplace, there are certain steps that health care organizations may take to prevent or manage this behavior. Federal law mandates that employers implement comprehensive preventative programs to reduce the likelihood of incidences of sexual harassment. This includes an “explicit policy” where employers specifically prohibit sexually harassing behavior. Employers also need to develop an effective procedure for both addressing and ultimately resolving sexual harassment complaints by employees (“Policy guidance”, 1999). The combination of these two activities is designed to limit the incidences of sexual harassment and protect employees from hostile working environments.

References

Code of ethics for nurses with interpretative statements. (2010, November 15). Nursing World. Retrieved from http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/ CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics.pdf

Nurse One/Team One sued by EEOC for sexual harassment and retaliation. (2009, September 3). U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/9-3-09f.cfm

Policy guidance on current issues of sexual harassment. (1999, June 21). U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/currentissues.html

Sexual harassment. (n.d.). U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm

Sexual harassment - ANA position statement. (1993, April 2). Nursing World. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/Policy-Advocacy/Positions-and-Resolutions/ANAPositionStatements/Position-Statements-Alphabetically/Sexual-Harassment.html