INDIANAPOLIS — A sexual assault and harassment expert is weighing in on a Call 6 Investigation that found the number of workplace harassment claims among state workers doubled from 2017 to 2018.
Governor Eric Holcomb told Call 6 Investigates Kara Kenney he anticipated an increase because his administration takes a “zero tolerance” stance toward sexual harassment.
Dr. Jennifer Drobac, IU McKinney School of Law Professor, said increased awareness often does lead to more claims.
"When institutions make it clear they will deal with sexual harassment and other discrimination and other complaints, then complaints tend to increase because people feel like there's a reason to complain," Dr. Drobac said.
Indiana is not alone in seeing a spike in harassment claims.
In fiscal year 2018, the EEOC filed 66 harassment lawsuits, including 41 that included allegations of sexual harassment.
That reflects more than a 50 percent increase in suits challenging sexual harassment over 2017.
In July 2018, Holcomb called for Attorney General Curtis Hill to resign citing the state’s zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
Hill has maintained his innocence and has not resigned.
“Indiana has a serious and continuing problem with responding to sexual harassment,” Drobac said. “If we have credible evidence that Hill sexually harassed several state workers at a gathering downtown. The governor even called for his resignation. What happened? Nothing.”
Much like other workplaces, Indiana state government has a workplace harassment prevention policy in place to protect workers, which says the state will not tolerate workplace harassment.
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Call 6: "Do you feel like the policy is being followed?"
Governor: "I do, I do think the policy is being followed, and it will be continued to be followed until the very end."
Call 6: "Do you feel like any changes need to happen?"
Governor: "No, the changes that need to happen come from the individuals who feel like they’ve been wronged. They need to understand that we’re not going to tolerate it, but they don’t need to tolerate it either, and they need to step forward and the process will play out."
Dr. Drobac said she is concerned that viewpoint places too much emphasis on the victim coming forward, and not enough on the state doing training, monitoring and properly managing staff.
“It is a bit problematic because it bridges on blame the victim mentality which is well, the only problem here is the victims don't come forward with complaints," said Drobac. “You need to poll your workplace and have eyes and ears on the job to see if the problem is continuing."
Call 6 Investigates found since Jan. 2016, state employees have filed 383 claims to the State Personnel Department regarding workplace harassment and of those, SPD found inappropriate behavior in 55 percent of the claims.
• 2016: 86 claims, 46 with some finding of inappropriate behavior.
• 2017: 98 claims, 53 with some finding of inappropriate behavior.
• 2018: 199 claims, 110 with some finding of inappropriate behavior.
“When you haven’t seen any negative consequences or repercussions for the alleged perpetrators, I think we do have a problem in Indiana,” Drobac said. “Those numbers should go down, but it won’t drop to zero because there will always inevitably be some bad apples in any workplace environment. You’re still going to have some complaints, but there will be much less.”
Drobac said complaints may go down because sexual harassment victims may see there’s no point in complaining.
“They see that nothing will get done,” Drobac said.
The Indiana State Personnel Department investigates all complaints they receive, but the findings are not public record unless a worker is suspended, demoted or terminated.
What’s not public record is when an employee is disciplined in another way, such as being counseled for inappropriate behavior.
Holcomb told Call 6 Investigates the process is working.
“If you get a bad apple and someone gets out of line, we’ve got to correct that and correct it ASAP, and that’s what I think is occurring,” Holcomb said. “That’s why I think the numbers have gone up because people have said ‘this guy is serious.’”
State employees must complete an annual workplace harassment training.
State Personnel spokesperson Carlo Bertolini provided a statement to RTV6 outlining what the state is doing to prevent workplace harassment:
"Last year, the state comprehensively enhanced its recurrent, mandatory training about workplace harassment. To update our harassment-prevention program we involved all State agencies, from agency heads to frontline employees who volunteered to share their views as part of the new content. This more inclusive philosophy was a major advancement from the lecture-driven, compliance-only approach traditionally required across the HR industry. We believe when workers hear from real employees and State leadership, they are more engaged by the messaging and more receptive to expectations of civility. The State’s harassment training doesn’t just address bad behavior. It also encourages employees to report such behavior and educates them about the many ways they can do so. This includes bystander reporting. By stressing that anyone can speak out against inappropriate behavior, we’ve made great strides in promoting a positive reporting culture built on civility. Additionally, we engaged all of our agency leaders in roundtable-style harassment discussions, which they in turn facilitated with their leadership teams and HR. We believe that by setting the tone at the top, we can create the culture of civility that we expect at the State. The Indiana State Personnel Department will maintain its regular review of the State’s mandatory Preventing Workplace & Sexual Harassment training content to ensure continued relevancy and effectiveness."
Shandi Donald, a wife and mother, was one of the 199 workers who filed a workplace harassment complaint in 2018.
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She quit her job in June 2016 with the state after Donald said an agency chief of staff repeatedly made inappropriate comments.
Donald provided emails to RTV6 that showed state personnel encouraged her to apply for different jobs within state government.
“I think that sends a message that ‘how about you hush, and we will just remove you from the situation,’” Donald said. “It made me feel small.”
Donald’s alleged harasser kept his job for 11 months after her complaint until he retired.
Donald said the state needs to evaluate whether the current policy is being enforced.
“If you have policies that are supposed to be followed then you need to follow them,” Donald said. “It needs to be followed by every agency no matter what position that person is in."
The Indiana State Personnel Department has declined on-camera interview requests from Call 6 Investigates, referring RTV6 to Holcomb’s office.
If you feel you are being a victim of workplace harassment here’s what you can do:
- Don’t ignore the harassment
- Tell the accuser the conduct is unwelcome
- Keep careful notes on what happened
- Document everything — in emails if you can, versus on the phone
- Review your company’s policies
- Report the conduct, but know anything you report to human resources can be shared with others
