Training seen as key to sex-harassment protection

CARSON CITY -- Since 1991, state government has paid out $1.4 million to employees who have been victims of sexual harassment, but in light of recent court rulings, officials are working to head off future problems.

Eight cases remain pending in the federal court.

State officials say, however, there's no need to change the sexual harassment policy in light of new rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court in late June.

"I feel the subject is pretty well covered," says state Personnel Administrator Sharon Murphy, who adds there are handbooks, training manuals, films and signs to remind the state worker about over-stepping the line.

"Nothing in these cases impacts us," says Senior Deputy Attorney General James Spencer, one of those in charge of examining the rules. "We have an excellent policy."

But Robert Gagnier, executive director of the 4,500 member State of Nevada Employees Association, says the state's program "is a hit-and-miss thing." There's a zero tolerance policy, but it's aimed mainly at protecting the state from a lawsuit, he said.

More good training is needed. "The state's training is of a poor quality. They get into the stuff of touching and quid pro quo. We don't have that many dumb people who do that. It's more of the subtle stuff."

In some cases, agencies "come down like a ton of bricks" on a person accused rather than doing a thorough examination, Gagnier said.

Solicitor General Mark Ghan, of the attorney general's office, said last month 50 state employees were training in Las Vegas on how to investigate these sexual harassment complaints. A similar training program will be held July 16-17 in Carson City for 50-60 more employees.

Ghan said the training is conducted by Jan Duffy, a San Francisco lawyer who is a specialist in the field and co-chairperson of the American Bar Association's National Institute on Sexual Harassment.

The state wants consistency in its investigations "to be fair to everybody." In addition, he said the state needs to protect the person who may be unjustly accused of harassment.

Under zero tolerance policy, an employee can be fired for their first sexual harassment offense.

The most recent judgment against the state involved Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Mary Howard who won a $500,000 federal lawsuit on her complaints she was sexually harassed by other male patrol members. She agreed to accept a $425,000 settlement when the state said it would not appeal.

These judgments against the state are peanuts compared to others. Mitsubishi agreed to pay $34 million to settle an Illinois case. Female employees in the financial firm of Smith Barney received hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the company agreed to spend $15 million in training.

One of the pending Nevada lawsuits was filed by NHP Trooper Patricia Kinard, who claims she was punished more harshly by the highway patrol than anybody in the past. Kinard was a sergeant and one of her male subordinates claimed she retaliated against him when he refused a sexual advance.

Kinard denied the allegation but was demoted after an investigation. In her lawsuit, she claims the state's inquiry was shoddy and that she was given a stiffer penalty than any male counterpart in prior cases.

One ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court said employers may be liable when a supervisor threatened action against a worker who refused the boss' sexual demands, even though the threats were never carried out.

But employers, the decision said, could avoid liability in such cases by displaying a strong anti-harassment policy that is communicated to all employees.

In state government, Murphy said handbooks detail the sexual harassment policy, and there is an additional manual for managers. Each employee must sign a "verification form" stating that he understands the state's policy.

Spencer said the rulings by the Supreme Court make the employer more liable for damages. Under the high court decisions, he said the employer can be forced to pay, even if it did not know about the harassment.

The decisions, he said, will mean "we will turn up the gas and do a little more training."

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