Single Sexual Harassment Claim Dramatically Alters Public Perception Of A Company

Harvard Business Review reports on research suggesting that a single sexual harassment claim is enough to dramatically shape public perception of a company and elicit perceptions of structural unfairness. Standard responses to isolated harassment claims, especially those involving low profile companies and perpetrators, is to haul out the bad apple defense, but in the public’s mind there seems to be no such thing as a bad apple. Researchers found that when people learn that a sexual harassment claim has been made in a company, they not only see that company as less equitable than one against which no such claim was filed, but also less equitable than one where a claim of a different kind, such as financial misconduct, was made. People also see a sexual harassment claim as indicative of a broad, cultural problem, not a simple matter of a bad guy amongst good ones. In general, the public want organizations that face a sexual harassment claim to hire more women and less men. The good news is that a responsive organization that treats victims in a timely and considerate way rebounds quickly in respect to public perception.