Inc.

NO PLACE FOR BAD ACTORS

The wrong approach to sexual harassment can lead your company to lawsuits, or a visit from the feds.

John Malloy owns exec search firm Sanford Rose Associates, but he once owned a manufacturing firm whose workers were mostly male. “It was very clear we could be subject to issues if we didn’t have the right policies in place,” he recalls. So he and his staff crafted a sexual harassment policy after getting legal guidance and then trained the entire company.

Within weeks, a female employee complained that a male co-worker had made comments that were “a blend of obscenities and sexual innuendo,” Malloy recalls. “He said things you wouldn’t say to your wife or mother.”

The guy refused to apologize. In fact, he made

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