Tanzi’s
sexual harassment commission hits the ground running
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The first meeting of Rhode Island State Representative Teresa Tanzi‘s Special Legislative Commission to Study Unlawful Sexual Harassment in the Workplace met on Tuesday.
The first meetings of some
commissions are sometimes only organizational in nature, with little of
substance to offer.
But Tanzi hit the ground running
with presentations from Cheryl
Burrell, director of the Rhode
Island Office of Diversity, Equity and Opportunity and Michael Evora, executive director
of the Rhode Island Human Rights Commission,
who provided a landscape of sorts about the current state of sexual harassment
complaints and the procedures in place to deal with them.
The commission was created by
legislation (H7678) sponsored by Tanzi in
response to the national public discussion about the prevalence of sexual
harassment prompted by the #metoo movement.
House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, who cosponsored the bill establishing the commission, instituted anti-harassment training for legislators and staff after meeting last January with Tanzi about the issue.
In a statement, Tanzi said, “Women
were given equal protection under the law through the implementation of Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and it
was applied for the first time specifically to sexual harassment in the
workplace in 1986. It has been 54 years since Title 7 and 32 years since the
Supreme Court decision, and it’s long past time to review our state’s laws to
ensure they are effective.”
Tanzi “plans for the commission to
review recent federal Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission recommendations and look at best
practices around the country with regard to training so people understand what
constitutes harassment and what to do about it, with the goal of encouraging
bystander intervention, and empowering victims to report harassment while
simultaneously protecting them from retaliation.
“A second goal is to review laws
other states have enacted and make recommendations to update and strengthen
Rhode Island laws.”
The commission should wrap up its
work and issue a report by May 17.
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Steve Ahlquist is a frontline
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