Pub. 1 2018-2019 |Issue 2

16 ANDDEALERSHIPS D iscrimination and harassment have been illegal in the U.S. since 1964, which is when Title VII of the Civil Rights Act first prohibited them. But just because there is a law against something doesn’t mean that everyone abides by that law. Lately though, sexual harassment in particular has become a hot topic throughout the U.S., thanks to several high-profile cases that have ended or marred the careers of some extremely prominent men and created a lively and passionate national discussion. Dealerships (which traditionally employ more men than women) are not exempt from this. • At a Massachusetts dealership, a training class about sexual harassment included sexually suggestive jokes. (One can only appreciate the irony of ending up in court when the whole point of the training session was to prevent sexual harassment.) Other inappropriate behavior also occurred. The dealership’s finance manager objected to both the jokes and the inappropriate behavior and was awarded $540,000 by a jury. • A lot manager at a dealership in New Mexico said inappropriate and shocking things and followed that up with unwanted touching. The dealership ended up settling for $2 million. • A finance director in Texas kept asking out an aftermarket sales manager, hugged her, and made suggestive comments. The appellate court jury gave her an award for more than $625,000. As it has become less socially acceptable to harass anyone sexually, it has also become increasingly dangerous for any business to ignore the problem. Compensatory and punitive damages can be as high as $1 million or more if the EEOC gets involved. If that’s pocket change for you and your dealership, you’ve read as far as you need to read. Otherwise, please continue reading in order to find out what to do to minimize the risk of legal problems. SEXUAL HARASSMENT