News

• Date: 01 August 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30352
• Published date: 01 August 2017

12

AUGUST 2017NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

EMPLOYMENT LAW (continued from page 11)

News

The court also decided that the judge had over-

looked that a reasonable juror would have an eviden-

tiary basis to nd Zetwick’s environment abusive in

light of her testimony that it was difcult for her to

go to work and that she was always stressed, suffered

from anxiety and took a sleep aid.

The court also decided that the trial judge im-

properly disregarded Zetwick’s testimony that Pri-

eto hugged and kissed other women. It ruled that

such evidence helped to generate genuine issues of

material fact that the environment was objectively

hostile. It explained that Prieto’s purported sexual

harassment of others was probative of his attitude

of disrespect toward his female employees, and his

sexual objectication of them.

Finally, the court said that disputed facts re-

mained concerning the number of hugs and whether

or not they were concentrated during certain periods

of Zetwick’s employment. It explained that a jury

needed to decide whether the hugs were spread

evenly or sporadically over the entire 12-year period,

and what percentage of the times when the two met

that Prieto hugged Zetwick.

[Zetwick v. County of Yolo, et al., U.S. Court of

Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 02/23/2017]. ■

Research lays out strategy

for addressing skills gap

New research released at the end of May iden-

ties ways that impact investors can help more

low-income students graduate with postsecondary

degrees and help ll America’s talent gap.

The report, funded by the Kresge Foundation

and the Lumina Foundation, identied strategic op-

portunities in which philanthropic and other impact

investors could play a critical role in this eld. The

report identies several barriers and funding gaps,

and highlights opportunities to deploy different

forms of capital—including mission-related and

program-related investments—to support America’s

need for talented, skilled workers, while addressing

challenges such as the increasing cost of education,

the changing demographics of students and the rise

of enabling technologies.

Specically, the study offers a framework that

segments the postsecondary education market into

four categories—learners, faculty, places of learning

and employers—and then suggests various invest-

ment opportunities across those four areas within

a variety of asset classes, such as commercial debt,

private equity, venture capital and others.

To read the report in full, visit http://bit.ly/2tzwHIv.

Social Progress Index shows loss

of personal rights, safety

While quality of life is improving across the globe,

new research suggests there’s been a broad decline

in several areas of social progress over the last few

years.

For the rst time, the Social Progress Imperative,

which annually publishes the Social Progress Index,

was able to compare 128 countries’ social progress

performance across four years and reveal global,

regional and national trends. These include:

• Since 2014, personal rights—which includes mea-

sures of political rights and freedom of expression—

declined in more countries than it improved.

• Improvements in personal safety over the last

four years remain elusive. Almost as many countries

experienced a fall as saw an increase in this category

of social progress, which spans political terror and

trafc deaths, the report said.

• Countries diverge the most when it comes to

tolerance and inclusion, a measure that includes ac-

ceptance of immigrants, homosexuals and religious

minorities. Though relatively stable on average, coun-

try-level scores are the most volatile in the index, the

report said. Most countries in Europe show consistent

or gradually improving scores, but there have been

substantial declines in the Czech Republic, France,

Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Russia and Slovakia, where

they are experiencing signs of deteriorating tolerance

toward immigrants and increasing discrimination

against minorities.

Generally, the SPI showed, the world is under-

performing on social progress compared to what the

average GDP per capita suggests is possible.

For more information, visit http://www.socialprogress

imperative.org. ■