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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 8 41 T he series of revelations over the past year that sparked a seismic shift in public awareness of sexual misconduct by powerful men has also cast a harsh spotlight on workplace sexual harassment. Emboldened by the groundbreaking #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, growing numbers of women are speaking out — and that's making organiza- tions skittish, more so because they are under growing pressure to take a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviour in the workplace. Yet, workplace sexual harassment is hardly a new issue. In the landmark 1989 Supreme Court of Canada case of Janzen v. Platy Enterprises, the court held that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination and violates human rights legislation. Fifteen years later, Quebec became the first jurisdiction in North America to ban non-discriminatory work- place harassment, a move followed by Ontario in 2009. Other provinces followed suit in the ensuing years. But a series of polls and studies make it plain: Workplace sexual transgressions are still one of the most challenging workplace issues employers face. Half of Canadian women say they have been subjected to sexual harassment at work and 28 per cent have experienced non-consensual sexual touching in the workplace — and the overwhelming majority did not report the incidents, according to a survey by the Angus Reid Institute published in February. Just as dismaying is the wide disconnect between employees' reality and execu- tives' perceptions about the problem. A staggering 94 per cent of Canadian executives believe that sexual harassment is not a problem at their company, 93 per cent believe they have a corporate culture that prevents sexual harassment and 69 per cent believe it's less MANAGING Workplaces across Canada are finally acknowledging the need to address sexual misconduct By Luis Millán #MeToo the workplace issue

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