TREATING SEXUAL HARASSMENT WITH RESPECT

Authors
Citation
A. Bernstein, TREATING SEXUAL HARASSMENT WITH RESPECT, Harvard law review, 111(2), 1997, pp. 445-527
Citations number
462
Journal title
ISSN journal
0017811X
Volume
111
Issue
2
Year of publication
1997
Pages
445 - 527
Database
ISI
SICI code
0017-811X(1997)111:2<445:TSHWR>2.0.ZU;2-2
Abstract
What is sexual harassment? Individuals in the workforce need to know. Judicial opinions do not fully inform them, and academic commentary ha s not linked doctrine to everyday work experience or to an intelligibl e ethical philosophy that is widely understood and shared. In this Art icle, Professor Bernstein undertakes to explain sexual harassment usin g the concept of respect. She argues that a defendant charged with hos tile environment sexual harassment ought to be held to the standard of a respectful person. This doctrinal device improves on approaches tha t now prevail, particularly those emphasizing ''reasonableness.'' Afte r detailing the shortcomings of current law, Professor Bernstein descr ibes the virtues of a legal rule that affirms respect. These virtues - which extend beyond sexual harassment - include the resonance of resp ect as a value among ordinary people, the history of inclusion based o n human dignity that informs respect, the orientation of respect aroun d the conduct of an agent (rather than the reaction of a complainant, the focus of current rules), and congruence with a tradition, found in many other areas of American law, of calling on citizens to render re spect.