Two Thirds of Women Who File Sexual Harassment Claims Face Retaliation From Their Employers

A new study led by Carly McCann, a doctorate student and research associate at the Center for Employment Equity at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, finds that 65 percent of employees who filed sexual harassment complaints are no longer employed at their firms one year later. Some 68 percent of all employees who filed sexual harassment complaints reported some form of retaliation from their employers.

Researchers examined more than 46,000 complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or fair employment practices agencies at the state level between 2012 and 2016. Women filed 81 percent of all sexual harassment complaints, according to the report.

McCann states that for those women who file a complaint, “only a minority receive any benefit and a majority lose their job and experience employer retaliation, so not filing a charge may also make economic and social sense.”

Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, professor of sociology and director of the Center for Employment Equity at the University of Massachusetts and a co-author of the study adds that “most employer responses tend to be harsh both via retaliation and firing employees who complain. The very low proportion of employees who file sexual harassment complaints is very likely to be related to employers’ typically punitive responses.”

The full report, Employer’s Responses to Sexual Harassment, may be found here.