It’s time to stop mindful blindness in the workplace
The list of companies entangled in sexual harassment or gender discrimination suits continues to grow. FOX and Uber have grabbed the most headlines but you can also see a growing list of companies that include Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, KPMG, Qualcomm, and Microsoft.
What is disturbing about FOX and UBER is that you had the company’s Human Resource and Legal departments actually protecting these predators in the workplace. If not for social media and the instantaneous news cycle these incidents could have easily remained buried. And in the case of FOX, if dozens of corporate sponsors had not pulled out, there is a good likelihood that its big name host would still have a job.
Sexual harassment is still very real in the workplace today. The 2016 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) notes that 1 in 3 women have been sexually harassed at work and “the least common response to harassment is to take some formal action – either to report the harassment internally or file a formal legal complaint. Roughly three out of four individuals who experienced harassment never even talked to a supervisor, manager, or union representative about the harassing conduct. Employees who experience harassment fail to report the harassing behavior or to file a complaint because they fear disbelief of their claim, inaction on their claim, blame, or social or professional retaliation.” Mindful blindness, the willingness of the company to turn a blind eye on activity that they know is going on, must stop immediately and senior leaders need to get tough and start asking very challenging questions of the people who work for them.
Managing People at Work 