BCG partners with Crawley Consulting to provide clients with sexual harassment and staff development training

PREVENTING AND RESPONDING TO WORKPLACE SEXUAL HARASSMENT
MANAGEMENT AND STAFF DEVELOPMENT TRAINING


Biddle Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) has partnered with Crawley Consulting to provide clients with expert training in diversity and sexual harassment (California State Assembly Bill 1825) topic areas.

Because charges of sexual harassment can result from activities at the employment site, during work-related functions, to and from work and off site activities, it is imperative that all managers, supervisors and employees be exposed to this topic.


PROTECT THE CLIENT AND ITS EMPLOYEES

Full-day sexual harassment workshops cover:

• How to avoid liability in peer-to-peer as well as manager to subordinate sexual harassment
• How to appropriately respond to allegations that a “hostile environment” has been ignored
• How to appropriately respond to allegations of “same sex” sexual harassment, as well as “Quid Pro Quo” claims of sexual harassment and retaliation
• The most recent and relevant court rulings in these areas and their effects on the organization

An experienced civil rights attorney who has prosecuted and settled cases against public and private entities will explain what you need to know and what you must do to avoid liability.

• Understand the historical significance and definition of sexual harassment
• Understand possible bases for liability
• Respond appropriately to charges of workplace sexual harassment
• Distinguish between normal adult behavior and illegal harassment
• Plan strategies for eliminating illegal harassment
• Correctly counsel the alleged recipient, witnesses and the accused
• Minimize liability under Federal and State Law

Each workshop includes:

• Presentations by Pamela Y. Price and/or Vernon Crawley
• Workshop materials for each participant, including case problems from recent Federal and State Court decisions on discrimination in the workplace for managers and supervisors
• Follow up session to debrief top management on our analysis of participant evaluation forms



BACKGROUND

CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY BILL 1825

It is now state law that all California employers of 15 or more employees must provide sexual harassment prevention training beginning January 2006, to be repeated every two years. Under the regulations, all new supervisors, managers and lead workers must be provided the training within six months of their appointment.

The training must be provided by qualified individuals and include appropriate content to satisfy the requirement. Crawley Consulting’s workshop is AB 1825 Certified and presented by California Super Lawyer, Pamela Y. Price.


THE PRESENTERS

Pamela Y. Price is a leading civil litigator and heads the Oakland, California law firm of Price and Associates – A Professional Law Corporation. Ms. Price has been recognized nationally for her work on behalf of plaintiffs seeking relief from sexual and other forms of harassment in the workplace and school settings.

A graduate of Yale University and the University of California at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, she has earned degrees in Political Science, Jurisprudence and Social Policy. Price made legal history in 1977 as the only plaintiff to advance to trial in Alexander v. Yale and again in 1993 as the lead counsel in Patricia H. v. Berkeley Unified School District et al.

Both cases were landmark challenges to sexual harassment in education: Alexander established the “quid pro quo” sexual harassment violates Title IX and Patricia H. established that Title IX prohibits a sexually hostile educational environment. She was invited to speak as a panelist upon the 20th anniversary and commemoration of Alexander at the Yale Law School in February 1998.

From 1991-97, Price was also lead counsel in the Title VII case of Pulido v. State of California, where plaintiff was awarded a $1.3 million judgment for sexual harassment against the California Department of Corrections. In January 2002, Price successfully argued a landmark racial harassment and discrimination case before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Abner Morgan, Jr. in National Passenger Railroad Company v. Morgan.

Price established her own civil litigation firm in June 1991 in Oakland, California. The Firm specializes in civil rights litigation, legal malpractice defense and real estate cases. In 1993 and again in 2001, Price received the Charles Houston Bar Association’s Clinton W. White Advocacy Award for her outstanding achievements in civil litigation. She has provided staff development training in sexual harassment prevention to local government officials and school administrators.

Vernon Crawley, President of Crawley Consulting (www.crawleyconsulting.org) is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, where he attended both undergraduate and graduate schools. Mr. Crawley has enjoyed a distinguished career as a management consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and now advises administrative teams on valuing and managing workplace diversity. He has cultivated a second career as an Affirmative Action Officer, and has been employed with diverse public agencies, including the County of Marin and San Francisco Municipal Railway as EEO program manager. Mr. Crawley has conducted sexual harassment investigations and designed training for a variety of audiences, including “one-on-one coaching” for key executives. He has provided expert witness testimony and case consultations in sexual harassment litigation. He has had many and varying experiences advising agencies on affirmative action programs, investigating charges, training administrators and teachers, conducting organizational diversity needs assessments and developing change management strategies.