Colorado State Sexual Harassment Training Requirements

The EEOC is the federal governing body that describes and enforces sexual harassment and discrimination laws. Read more at (EEOC Harassment). According to the EEOC sexual harassment and other forms of employment discrimination violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, (ADA). Sexual harassment claims can also be filed with the Colorado Civil Rights Division. For more on Colorado discrimination laws visit the Colorado Website on Employment Discrimination. 

According to the most recent statistics from the EEOC, 37.4% of workplace discrimination claims in Colorado in 2018 were related to sexual harassment. These 506 claims constituted 2.1% of the total sexual harassment claims in the US that year.

In 2013, a potato warehouse in Colorado paid $255,000 to settle a sexual harassment suit brought by the EEOC. A supervisor had been sexually harassing 10 women who worked at the company at different times from 2004-2010. The first complaint about his behavior was made in 2004 but the company failed to investigate. It was found that the potato company did not have any training on sexual harassment for management or employees. They were mandated to implement training as part of the settlement. More on the story Here.

There are a number of steps the EEOC recommends that employers take to reduce their chances of liability for sexual harassment claims.

1. Implementing a strong and well understood sexual harassment policy.
2. Providing a robust sexual harassment training program for training employees and supervisors.
3. Establishing an effective complaint and grievance process, within which the employees do not have to fear retaliation.
4. An employer should act Immediately to investigate any complaint or grievance.
5. The employer should take immediate steps such as disciplinary action to stop harassment.
6. Employees should be encouraged to confront the harasser directly and inform them that the conduct is inappropriate as well as informing management and Human Resources

Sexual Harassment Training Tip: Prevention is the BEST tool.

By ensuring that employees understand and are well trained in workplace sexual harassment policies, employers can greatly reduce their chances of being liable for monetary damages in sexual harassment cases.