Courthouse Journal

In April 2024, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released the first updates to its published guidelines since 1999.    

At July's WACO Packed Lunch, the Washington Counties Risk Pool sponsored a presentation by Janet May from Sound Employment Solutions on harassment, discrimination and retaliation standards in the workplace and some of the unique challenges faced by county elected officials. She started out by overviewing key changes in policy reflected in the new EEOC guidelines:

• Includes harassment against LGBTQ+ individuals as sexual harassment;
• Clarifies pregnancy-related harassment to include issues related to lactation, contraception, and the decision to have or not have an abortion.
• Defines “color” to include pigmentation, complexion, skin shade and tone.
• Clarifies that retaliatory behavior includes actions that may deter a person from filing a complaint.
• Provides examples of when a public employee may or may not share their religious beliefs with patrons and co-workers; and
• Outlines the minimum features for an effective harassment policy, effective complaint process, and effective training, all of which are necessary for an affirmative defense to claims of a hostile work environment.

Given these and other updates, now is a good time to remind WACO members of the importance of updated harassment, discrimination and retaliation policies in protecting you and your employees.   

But I’m not the HR Department, why should I read further?   

As noted above, having an effective anti-harassment policy is key to having an affirmative defense in the liability you, as a county official, may share in a harassment case. More importantly, having updated policies is key to protecting yourself and your employees from harassment, discrimination and retaliation. Both you and your employees need to be aware of your rights and responsibilities and what to do if those rights may have been violated. The new guidelines provide a great opportunity for you to partner with human resources on making sure both you and your employees are protected.

Has your county human resources had an opportunity or have plans to update your county policies? If you or your employees experience harassment, do you know the appropriate procedures for filing a complaint/ addressing? Janet commented that she’s found most counties have anti-harassment models, but is frequently told that they are quite out of date. This is a great time to update them in accordance with the new guidelines. It is critical that any policies be run by your agency attorney to make sure all critical requirements are met.

Participants discussed the variety of reasons they or employees might be hesitant to discuss harassment they are experiencing or file a complaint. Janet reminded participants that all counties are required to have a zero-tolerance policy on harassment and discrimination and that this means it is never okay to ignore harassment, keep it secret, or live with it.  By law, follow-up is always expected. Liability can relate to not only knowing about harassment and not doing anything, but also exists in the case where the employer or agency, and in some cases even fellow employees, should have known it exists in their workplace. Janet further suggested remembering that your employees are watching you and you set the standard both in avoiding harassing behavior but also in showing it will not be tolerated in your agency. In all likelihood, people know something is going on and the actions you take are modeling and setting the tone for whether this type of behavior is tolerated or not.      

Janet’s presentation also recognized the unique challenges for county elected officials. Neither Washington State RCW nor the federal law / guidelines speak that specifically to local elected officials as employers or employees, but it is safest to act under the assumption that you may have personal liability under the state law’s definition of supervisor. Questions to consider when revising your policy to reflect these unique challenges might include: To whom is an elected official accountable for harassing behavior? What about elected officials experiencing harassment, discrimination or retaliation from another elected official? While state law and federal guidance may be fuzzy in this regard, local policy and procedures need not be; and again, clear policy is the best protection for employees and from liability.   

Elected officials may feel like they are limited in their ability to ensure adequate policies and procedures are in place, to which Janet stressed the need to document, document, document. Whether experiencing harassment or as a supervisor of an employee who is, the evidence and examples you collect may prove your best defense with regard to cases of harassment, discrimination or retaliation.

As always, the process of getting to where our offices need to be in terms of policies in place and resources available can seem daunting. That’s where WACO comes in to help! Below is a collection of resources from WACO’s Education Hub and from WACO’s Education partners to help assist you as you work to create a robust, anti-harassment policy and environment for your office and team.

• Anti-Harassment Training [WACO/WCRP Webinar]
  A code is required for WACO members/their staff to view this training. Please email memberservices@countyofficials.org to get the code.
• Contact Janet May of Sound Employment Solutions | sesjmay@msn.com; (206) 334-5004
• Resources from Washington Counties Risk Pool:
  • The Washington Counties Risk Pool provides training designed for managers/supervisors all throughout the year to help them become issue spotters in preventing harassment and discrimination, all at no cost to members of the risk pool. Visit their Training page for the latest listings!
  • The Washington Counties Risk Pool offers a pre-defense review program (also referred to as a “PDR”) which is a service provided at no additional expense to its members. A PDR is a proactive risk management program to evaluate a potential liability exposure before a claim or lawsuit is filed against your county. PDR’s can be requested before an incident occurs so you get the appropriate legal advice on how to best handle the situation or a PDR can also be requested after an incident but before a claim or lawsuit is filed.
    If a PDR is approved by the WCRP, an attorney will be assigned to work with the designated county employee. If you are considering requesting a PDR you would want to first speak with your Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and have the request submitted to the WCRP by the county identified risk manager.    
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Resources
• Resources from Municipal Resource & Services Center
  • Discrimination – Overview of state and federal discrimination laws in Washington State.
  • Sexual Harassment – Overview of federal and state sexual harassment laws that apply to local governments in Washington State, including Examples of Anti-Harassment Policies.
  • Troublesome Behavior: Defending Against Harassment of Public Officials and Employees (2021) – What can local governments do to protect officials and employees and to ensure that the work of government can continue? This blog explores strategies for dealing with members of the public that cross the line.

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Thank you to WACO Education Partner Washington Counties Risk Pool for making WACO's July Packed Lunch possible.

The Washington Counties Risk Pool is a risk management pool with 24 member counties, out of Washington’s 39 total counties. They operate under RCW 48.62 which allows local government entities to jointly group self-insure for their property and casualty insurance needs. Members of the WCRP benefit from significant insurance limits, broad coverage and in-house loss control, member services and claims management. The WCRP provides its members with various risk management resources to help reduce or eliminate risk and reduce costs associated with the litigation of claims. 

To learn more or to see if you’re a member, visit wcrp.info.