Actions That Make a Difference: Preventing and Responding to Harassment in Your Agency

Harassment is an ongoing challenge in every federal workplace, but agencies still struggle with taking action because of the sensitive issues involved.What’s appropriate? What’s effective? What can you do to prevent agency liability?

Gain valuable insights from Sam Vitaro, whose experiences as a former MSPB AJ and arbitrator give him a unique view of the EEO process and how agencies handle harassment – for better or worse.

You’ll learn how to recognize the many ways harassment can occur so you’re better prepared to stop it from happening in the first place. And, you’ll take away specific know-how to appropriately address the full spectrum of harassment issues – to help your agency avoid liability if harassment does occur. Plus, you get his insider’s guidance to:

• Respond to a harassment claim without being harsh or too nice
• Determine if a harassment allegation has been raised in a timely manner
• Properly frame a claim so you don't dismiss one that should have been processed
• Understand how gender stereotyping can create a hostile work environment
• Identify when a single racial or sexual slur can create a hostile work environment
• Recognize the differences between defending a claim of coworker harassment vs. supervisory harassment
• And more!