VCayr: Managing Sexual Harassment

<p style="color: white; background-color: rgb(3, 70, 56); font-size: 16px; display: inline-block; border: 0px rgb(197, 183, 131); padding: 4px 4px;"><a href="https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/vcayr-managing-sexual-harassment-digital-learning-experience/01t5c00000Cd0NUAAZ" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">AVAILABLE AS A DIGITAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE</a></p><br> VCayr was a not-for-profit social service organization that connected individuals through its social media platforms and community events. In January 2019, an organizational member and an active project manager at VCayr reported to a friend and board director that she was sexually harassed by another board director at VCayr. The friend and director had to decide how to manage the situation. He was aware of the severity of sexual harassment and the significant harm that it could have on all VCayr members and on the overall organization. Another sexual harassment incident was reported to him one year later by another member of VCayr. The board director had a second chance to rethink his strategies and to weigh in other options in light of the emerging information.

The case was developed for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on information systems, organizational behaviour, or general management. The case is also suitable for courses that discuss public or not-for-profit organizations, as well as workshops for managers and practitioners. This case shows the complexities associated with sexual harassment in organizations, and the impact of digital technologies. The case is written based on a real scenario and aims to introduce students to organizational strategies and tactics to prevent and manage sexual harassment in organizations. It also illustrates how sexual predators, with varying roles and ranks, exploit weak systems that lack clear hierarchies and policies to get away with increasingly severe harassment behaviours. Weak systems, such as those in some not-for-profit organizations, allow sexual harassers to behave badly. Even when caught, they may not be held accountable, due to the lack of a formal system to address the sexual harassment behaviour. Finally, the case presents a framework for managers to deal with sexual harassment systematically. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to<ul><li>understand the extreme complexities associated with sexual harassment in organizations;</li><li>understand different types of workplace sexual assault and their effects on individuals and organizations;</li><li>understand how digital technology can act as both a facilitator and an inhibitor of sexual harassment; and</li><li>develop an organizational sexual harassment prevention framework along the two dimensions of management functions and the timing of actions.</li></ul>

• sexual harassment
• digital sexual harassment
• work mistreatment
• workplace harassment
• harassment policy