Fewer report being sexually harassed
— -- A lot has changed in the American workplace since the Mad Men era, when sexual harassment was rampant.
But despite greater education and awareness, the problem has remained in the public eye, with presidential candidate Herman Cain the latest in a list of high-profile people accused of harassment on the job. Last year, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd resigned after one of the company's former contractors filed a sexual harassment claim against him.
"I don't think sexual harassment ever stopped being a problem," said Michelle Caiola, attorney at Legal Momentum women's legal defense and education fund in New York.
However, the government's numbers suggest workplace conditions may be improving. The number of claims reported to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been on the decline for more than a decade. In the government's 2010 fiscal year, 11,717 charges were reported, down from 15,889 in fiscal 1997.
But several employment law experts say that the numbers don't necessarily mean sexual harassment is less of a problem.
Government statistics don't reflect the employee who "never reported it to the EEOC or settled entirely outside the EEOC system," said Fatima Goss Graves, vice president at the National Women's Policy Center. "It doesn't reflect people who decide it's not worth it to complain at all."
The economy also may be a factor, said Caren Goldberg, a professor of management at American University in Washington. "When the economy is doing poorly, people are much more afraid of initiating a claim," she said. "Even though they are technically protected from retaliation … they're not typically looked on very favorably from their employer."
EEOC spokeswoman Christine Saah Nazer said the agency doesn't know the reason for the decline in incident reports. "Some individuals may be fearful of retaliation. These numbers we report may be the tip of the iceberg," she said.
Patricia Nemeth, a Detroit lawyer who represents employers, said a growing number of companies have set up policies and procedures to handle the problem internally.
Chuck Underwood, an author and expert on generational differences in the workplace, expects the workplace environment for women will get better because Baby Boomers, who came of age during the women's movement, are taking over powerful positions once held by the previous generation.
The rise of women and minorities in the workplace should also help. "The Baby Boomer women had to fight the fight against sexual harassment in the workplace," Underwood said. "Generation X has come in behind them very assertive, very confident and very intolerant of sexual harassment."
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