Tom Kaufman Quoted in HRWire

The recent CA Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. Dept of Corrections regarding sexual harassment in the workplace is the focus of an article ("California Court Says Sexual Favoritism Can Equal Sexual Harassment") in the August 22, 2005 issue of HRWire (Thomson/West publication) in which Tom is quoted frequently. The article notes that while the ruling applies only in California, what can employers across the country learn from it? Are other courts likely to rule similarly? What should employers do to ensure they are not faced with similar suits?

"Thomas R. Kaufman, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Seyfarth Shaw, says that until this ruling, 'you couldn't succeed on a sexual harassment claim unless you could show that men and women were treated differently. This gets rid of that and opens the door to the expansion of sexual harassment laws. It's not just about treating men and women equally; it's also about policing sexual activity," he said. While the ruling itself only applies to employers with operations in California, employers throughout the country should take note of it. "While we're unlikely to see a wave of cases like this across the country, there's now a decision out there that other courts could latch onto," Kaufman says. Prudent employers will give their workplace romance policies some consideration in the wake of the ruling. A client memo issued by Kaufman's firm in response to the case notes that "the decision reinforces our long-standing advice that romantic relationships between supervisors and subordinates are fraught with potential legal problems."