Sexual Harassment: Staff-to-Staff
Course DetailsFAQTranscript
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Sexual Harassment: Staff-to-Staff

36 minutes

Sexual harassment can cause serious and lasting harm, impacting individuals’ well-being, damaging workplace culture, and exposing organizations to legal and reputational risks. That’s why it’s essential for employers to address it proactively and for employees to understand their responsibilities when witnessing or experiencing inappropriate behavior. This course provides a foundational understanding of sexual harassment and offers practical strategies to help maintain a respectful, harassment-free workplace.

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Sexual Harassment: Staff-to-Staff
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Course Details

Learning Objectives

  • Define sexual harassment and distinguish between quid pro quo and hostile work environment harassment
  • Recognize examples of inappropriate conduct, including verbal, nonverbal, and physical behaviors that may constitute harassment
  • Explain the impact of sexual harassment on individuals, workplace culture, and organizational integrity
  • Identify employee rights and responsibilities in preventing and responding to harassment

Specs

Intended Audience
Higher Education Faculty & Staff
Languages
  • English (US)
  • Spanish (US)
  • Spanish (European)
  • Spanish (Mexican)
  • French (Canada)
  • French (European)
  • Arabic
  • Chinese (Simplified Mandarin)
  • Chinese (Traditional Mandarin)
  • Filipino Tagalog
  • German
  • Hindi
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Portuguese (Brazilian)
  • Portuguese (European)
  • Russian
  • Thai
  • Vietnamese
Accessibility
Audio, Video, Interactive Transcript, Closed Captions
Course Features
Interactive Modules, Knowledge-Checks, Assessment

Author | Michelle Issadore

Michelle Issadore, M.Ed., is the Chief Operating Officer for TNG, the former Senior Associate Executive Director for the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA), and the former Executive Director of the School and College Organization for Prevention Educators (SCOPE). She works with the leaders of TNG’s membership associations and training offerings, ATIXA and NABITA, as well as the team responsible for our communications to the field, to continually offer our members and clients the most engaging communities, best-in-class professional development, and real-time information. Issadore spent five years as Assistant Director of the Women’s Center at Lehigh University where she coordinated sexual violence prevention and response, including annual and ongoing trainings and programming for faculty, staff, and students. She advised Lehigh’s peer educator group and hotline, which was the 2009 recipient of NASPA’s Silver Excellence Award for Violence Education and Prevention, Crisis Management and Campus Security. She also instituted an online anonymous reporting system for sexual violence, with the support of related departments. Issadore was responsible for management of the staff advocate program, which provided confidential crisis and options counseling to victims. She created a writing-intensive sexual violence course and taught in the Women’s Studies program. She completed 40 hours of advocate training in Pennsylvania’s Northampton and Lehigh counties. Issadore has served as co-chair of the National Women’s Studies Association’s Women’s Centers Committee, as a member of the Clery Center for Security on Campus Advisory Board, and as part of the Futures Without Violence Campus Policy Advisory Board. She has presented many online trainings, certification courses, and conference sessions, as well as written for several publications.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is considered sexual harassment between staff in a higher education workplace?

Sexual harassment in a higher education workplace includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that creates a hostile, intimidating, or offensive work environment. It may also involve situations where job benefits are conditioned on submission to such conduct. This type of harassment can happen between colleagues, supervisors, and subordinates, or among staff in different departments.

What steps should be taken if sexual harassment is experienced or witnessed in the workplace?

Staff who experience sexual harassment should report it according to the institution’s established procedures. This may include notifying Human Resources, the Title IX office, or a designated harassment officer. Many institutions also allow for anonymous or third-party reporting. Prompt reporting helps ensure that the issue is addressed quickly and that patterns of misconduct are identified and stopped.

Can sexual harassment still occur even if the behavior wasn’t intended to offend?

Yes. Sexual harassment is defined not just by the intent behind the behavior, but by how it is received and whether it creates a hostile or uncomfortable environment for others. A comment or action may seem harmless or humorous to one person, but can be deeply upsetting or inappropriate to another, especially in a workplace where backgrounds, values, and experiences vary. For example, repeated compliments on a colleague’s appearance or making sexually suggestive jokes, even if meant jokingly, may be considered harassment if they are unwelcome. Understanding this helps reinforce the importance of maintaining professionalism, setting clear boundaries, and respecting personal space and comfort levels in all workplace interactions. Institutions expect employees to know how their behavior impacts others, regardless of intent.

What responsibilities do employees have in preventing sexual harassment?

All employees share a collective responsibility to help create a safe and respectful workplace. This includes understanding what constitutes sexual harassment, completing required training, and modeling professional conduct in all interactions. Employees should avoid behavior that could be misinterpreted as inappropriate or unwelcome and be mindful of how language, tone, or humor may affect others. In addition to preventing misconduct, employees should speak up if they witness harassment or are aware of concerning behavior. This might involve directly intervening in the situation if safe to do so, offering support to a colleague, or reporting the behavior to the institution. When employees take these steps, it helps create a campus culture grounded in dignity, accountability, and mutual respect.

Sample Video Transcript

Individuals of any sex can be the target of sexual harassment. In fact, sexual harassment may involve harassment of a person of the same sex as the harasser, regardless of who the person is attracted to. That’s because sexual harassment is a form of unfairness based on sex, including who you think the person may be attracted to, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

Although it doesn’t have to be motivated by sexual desire, unlawful sexual harassment often includes unwanted or unwelcome behavior that’s sexual in nature. This includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment usually takes two forms, quid pro quo and hostile environment.

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