Editor’s Note

 
The #MeToo movement has been instrumental in raising the awareness of sexual harassment, especially in workplaces, and has provided a platform for those affected to reach out and share their experience.

 

Ever since the movement began, more women than men have come forward. However, there have been a few notable exceptions, including the actors James Van Der Beek and Terry Crews. So do fewer men face sexual harassment at workplaces?
 
As per various studies and academic researches, women do experience more sexual harassment in the workplace than men. However, as per reports, sexual harassment against men also exists and is on the rise. While over half of women experience sexual harassment in workplaces, men account for nearly 1 in 5 complaints of workplace sexual harassment with the EEOC!

This month’s cover article, “Sexual Horseplay” Or “Sex Discrimination”?: Dealing With Inappropriate Behavior At Workplace by Jaklyn Wrigley, will help you understand why it is important to immediately put a stop to any workplace behavior, including those against your male employees, even if you believe the conduct simply amounts to juvenile horseplay, roughhousing, or locker-room behavior. They could be construed as harassing or discrimination in the eyes of law.

The total number of sex discrimination filings and #MeToo filings – i.e., complaints of sexual harassment - in FY 2018 demolished FY 2015 and 2016, and even surpassed FY 2017. This year, the EEOC filed 217 actions, 197 merits lawsuits and 20 subpoena enforcement actions!
 
Sex-Based Discrimination: The EEOC Puts The Pedal To The Metal by Christopher J. DeGroff, Matthew J. Gagnon, Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., and Kyla J. Miller, highlights the dramatic increase in filings should come as an epiphany to employers and employers need to be on top of their game to avoid becoming the next target of EEOC-initiated litigation.
 
In a historic verdict, the Supreme Court of India on September 6, 2018, decriminalized the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and made homosexual relations legal among consenting adults in private. A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court unanimously decriminalized part of the 158-year-old colonial law, which criminalizes consensual ‘unnatural sex’.
 
However, is corporate India LGBT inclusive? Read Deepa Damodaran’s article, LGBT Inclusion: Is Corporate India Ready?, to understand the readiness of corporate India towards gender equality and a more inclusive future.

A recent data breach involving Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, affected at least 87 million Facebook users. People’s data was unknowingly used for politically manipulative advertisements. While an extreme example of unethical data mining, the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal challenges businesses and marketers to think about the ways they collect, use, and share data. Does ethical data mining profits business?
 
Is it possible for businesses to follow the law and yet cross an ethical line when mining data? Catch up with Ethical Data Mining: How Doing The Right Thing Is Good For Business by David Thomas, to know more.

This is not all! This month’s issue of HR Legal & Compliance Excellence is packed with top trending topics in the legal and compliance arena, and infused with information on new polices and laws to arm you and your employees to stay compliant and safe.
 
Happy reading and do not forget to mail us your feedback!