Man reports sexual harassment he witnessed and gets fired: An anonymous account
McLaughlin
Sadly  this story is not unique  says  Dr. Heather McLaughlin  a sexual harassment researcher and assistant professor of sociology at Oklahoma State University .
While many women fear that reporting sexual harassment will boomerang against them  the truth is men who report witnessing it can be equally at risk   McLaughlin  said.
"Regardless of whether a man or a woman reports it  the threat of possible repercussions is real  despite whistleblower laws "  McLaughlin  said.
The uncertain outcome of speaking out is why sexual harassment mostly goes unreported. One study found that only 35% of young adults who were harassed at work reported it to HR or a government agency like the EEOC  McLaughlin said.
That means that 65% of the harassment was never reported  mostly because "they do not expect to be supported by their employer or co-workers. So we found that many report the harassment as a last resort rather than a first step in finding an effective resolution " McLaughlin said.
While companies tend to worry about the liabilities of sexual harassment allegations  unchecked harassment has an economic impact on them  too. It leads to high turnover and high absentee rates   McLaughlin  said.
Not reporting it and not quitting has other long-term consequences. It means being "complicit" and working in "a toxic work environment  and anyone who works in tech knows this is a problem "  McLaughlin  said  referring to the tech industry's long-standing reputation for frat house behavior.
Still  those that do report sexual harassment often say they feel good about speaking out. They feel like they are paying it forward  stopping a wrong  McLaughlin said.
Sadly  this story is not unique  says  Dr. Heather McLaughlin  a sexual harassment researcher and assistant professor of sociology at Oklahoma State University .
While many women fear that reporting sexual harassment will boomerang against them  the truth is men who report witnessing it can be equally at risk   [TGT]said.
"Regardless of whether a man or a woman reports it  the threat of possible repercussions is real  despite whistleblower laws "  [TGT]said.
The uncertain outcome of speaking out is why sexual harassment mostly goes unreported. One study found that only 35% of young adults who were harassed at work reported it to HR or a government agency like the EEOC  [TGT] said.
That means that 65% of the harassment was never reported  mostly because "they do not expect to be supported by their employer or co-workers. So we found that many report the harassment as a last resort rather than a first step in finding an effective resolution " [TGT] said.
While companies tend to worry about the liabilities of sexual harassment allegations  unchecked harassment has an economic impact on them  too. It leads to high turnover and high absentee rates   [TGT]said.
Not reporting it and not quitting has other long-term consequences. It means being "complicit" and working in "a toxic work environment  and anyone who works in tech knows this is a problem "  McLaughlin  said  referring to the tech industry's long-standing reputation for frat house behavior.
Still  those that do report sexual harassment often say they feel good about speaking out. They feel like they are paying it forward  stopping a wrong  [TGT] said.