Florida State Sexual Harassment Training Requirements

Florida Sexual Harassment Training Requirements: While Florida doesn’t have any specific legal requirement for sexual harassment training, sexual harassment training in the workplace is highly recommended as it can reduce laibility to employers and help prevent sexual harassment altogether.

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).

In 2018, 31.9% of the 6,617 workplace discrimination charges reported in Florida were related to sexual harassment. These 2,113 charges made up 8.6% of all sexual harassment charges reported in the US that year.

In Tampa, two restaurants were investigated based off of complaints filed with the EEOC by two teenage sisters who worked there. The employers were found in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and other federal anti-discrimination laws. They were made to pay $525,000 in a settlement. In addition, the employers were put under a consent decree requiring them to provide sexual harassment training, posting of notices, and sexual harassment monitoring provisions, none of which were in place before. This underscores the need for structured sexual harassment training in order to reduced liability to employers and prevent sexual harassment all together. For more information visit the EEOC Newsroom Website.

These sexual harassment cases and lawsuits are not restricted to private employers. In 2019, the Florida State Senate paid $900,000 in a settlement to a senate staffer who reported being sexually harassed by a senator. She filed a complaint with the EEOC against the Florida Legislature stating that she was harassed and subsequently subject to retaliatory action. It also stated that the Senate “knew, or should have known, of the unlawful conduct of Senator Latvala and did not take any steps to prevent his abuses and protect its employees.” For more, read the Miami Herald Story.