Sexual Harassment Training Required for Supervisors

Supervisory employees employed as of July 1, 2005 must be given two hours of sexual harassment training by the deadline of January 1, 2006. Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill, AB 1825, which requires all California employers with 50 or more employees to provide two hours of sexual harassment training to all supervisors once every two years. However, employers who have already provided sexual harassment training to their supervisory employees after January 1, 2003, do not need to comply with the January 1, 2006 deadline. Any “new supervisory employees” must be given two hours of sexual harassment training within six months of beginning their supervisory position. Thereafter, employers are required to give their supervisory employees the sexual harassment training once every two years. To the extent there is a question of whether or not an individual qualifies as a supervisor, employers should err on the side of caution and provide the sexual harassment training. Under other California statutes and case law, the term “supervisor,” has been defined very broadly. See e.g., Gov’t Code § 12926(r).

The training must consist of “information and practical guidance regarding the federal and state statutory provisions concerning the prohibition against and the prevention and correction of sexual harassment and the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment.” Training should include practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention of harassment. Those who provide the training must have “knowledge and expertise in the prevention of harassment, discrimination and retaliation.”

Failure to provide the training does not, in and of itself, result in strict liability for the employer in the event an employer is sued for sexual harassment. While the specific statutory penalty only consists of an order from the FEHC to comply, questions abound as to the legal effect of noncompliance in areas such as negligence, failure to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment, representative action liability under Business and Professions Code § 17200 claims. Whether or not such an argument would prevail is currently unclear and will be decided by the courts.