Time's Up: Equity, Fairness, and Public Administration

AuthorJeremy L. Hall,R. Paul Battaglio
Published date01 May 2018
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12949
Date01 May 2018
Time’s Up: Equity, Fairness, and Public Administration 335
Public Administration Review,
Vol. 78, Iss. 3, pp. 335–337. © 2018 by
The American Society for Public Administration.
DOI: 10.1111/puar.12949.
Editorial
T he persistence of sexual harassment in the
modern workplace comes as no surprise
to women and the many victims of these
insidious activities. Recent allegations in the
entertainment industry have proven to be the tip
of the iceberg as sexual harassment claims have
manifested in both the public and nonprofit sectors.
Forced from his executive position at the Red Cross
for accusations of sexual harassment and rape of a
subordinate, Gerald Anderson landed the top job
at Save the Children (Elliott and Tobin 2018 ). For
listeners of WNYC’s The Takeaway , accusations
of sexual harassment and bullying leveled against
longtime host John Hockenberry by his former
co-hosts were disconcerting to say the least (Chokshi
2017 ). Social media activity, specifically the #MeToo
movement, has refocused attention not only on sexual
harassment, but also on broader concerns regarding
social equity in the workplace.
The Numbers
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) Select Task Force for the Study
of Harassment in the Workplace, nearly one third of
the approximately 90,000 charges received by EEOC
in fiscal year 2015 included an allegation of workplace
harassment (EEOC 2016 , iv). Charges include those
of unlawful harassment (i.e., bases of sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy), race,
disability, age, ethnicity/national origin, color, and
religion. Women overwhelmingly initiate these claims,
although over time men have come forward with
charges as well. In 1990, women filed 92 percent of
all claims, but by 2015, the number was at 83 percent
(Chalabi 2016 ). In a surprising reversal of roles,
Megan Barry, the mayor of Nashville, TN, was forced
to resign and plead guilty to a felony theft charge as
a result of a longstanding consensual affair with her
security detail (Wang and Rosenberg 2018 ). Even
consensual relationships push the envelope of public
trust; Mayor Barry’s relationship cost taxpayers over
$11,000, which she agreed to repay as part of her plea
arrangement.
Furthermore, the EEOC estimates that approximately
75 percent of all workplace harassment incidents go
unreported. Task force findings suggest those who
experience sex-based harassment in the workplace
attempt to “avoid the harasser, deny or downplay the
gravity of the situation, or attempt to ignore, forget,
or endure the behavior” (EEOC 2016 , v). Worrisome
is the fact that most employees who experience
harassment fail to report the incident to management.
The task force estimates that nearly three out of four
individuals who reported experiencing harassment
in the workplace “never even talked to a supervisor,
manager, or union representative about the harassing
conduct” (EEOC 2016 , v).
Instead of reporting incidents of harassment to
immediate supervisors or human resources, many
individuals fear the consequences of coming forward.
Research suggests that only 6–13 percent of those who
experience harassment in the workplace actually file
a formal complaint (Cortina and Berdahl 2008 ). For
these employees, the fear of retaliation, management
inaction, and/or outright disbelief is real. Cortina and
Magley ( 2003 ) found that 75 percent of employees
who reported their harassment to management
experienced retaliation in some form for their actions.
Research Perspective
Not surprisingly, the EEOC task force recommended
further investigation. While the report noted the
growth in research examining harassment on the
bases of sex, they expressed concern by the lack of
knowledge regarding other forms of harassment.
This is not surprising to many of us in the academy
who have seen a modicum of work published in
recent years on this very topic, most of which
appears in niche human resource journals (e.g.,
Review of Public Personnel Administration and Public
Personnel Management ). Yet research on diversity
and social equity issues as a whole have continued
to flourish over the course of the last decade in a
number of important ways. This vein of research
has demonstrated the effectiveness of inclusiveness
R. Paul Battaglio
The University of Texas at Dallas
Jeremy L. Hall
University of Central Florida
Times Up: Equity, Fairness, and Public Administration

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