by Amy Miraglia
A Company's quick and thorough response to a complaint of sexual harassment may relieve it of all liability. In a recent Circuit Court decision, Stuart v. General Motors Corp., 2000 WL 815940 (June 26, 20000), General Motors' actions in responding to an employee's complaint regarding the presence of pornographic material in the workplace was found to be prompt and adequate and relieved General Motors of any liability for a sexually hostile work environment.
In this case, a female employee complained to her supervisor that she was being treated differently from male employees who were allowed to take longer breaks and that she was subjected to sexual harassment, pointing to the presence of a computer in her work area that contained a pornographic computer program. General Motors offered to move the employee to another area, in the same position, to relieve her of the situation. General Motors also directed its Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator to dedicate
