Anti Sexual Harassment Policy
Q: Should I tell someone if I feel I’ve been sexually harassed?
A:Absolutely. You certainly should let the harasser or harassers know that their behavior is offensive. If that does not help, then you need to take your complaints up the ladder. If your employer has an anti-sexual harassment policy, you should make a complaint using that policy’s procedure. A recent Supreme Court case lets the employer off the hook if the employee unreasonably ignores the policy. Well-designed policies identify more than one possible person to complain to, and explain the kind of investigation that the company will take.
Even if your company’s policy does not require it, the best practice is to write out your complaint, so that you don’t forget anything important, and you have a record of what you said. Keep your complaint factual, but don’t leave out the embarrassing parts. You may want to consider telling at least one trusted work friend about the harassment as well and keep a diary of the harassing conduct and what you did to stop it. Sometimes that is regarded later as convincing proof that you are not making up events after the fact.