Regardless of the workplace setting, sexual assault and sexual harassment is present and has existed for centuries. The casting coach, lord of the manor and the servant girl, the executive and the secretary, the professor with the student, have been storylines based on real life, in films, novels, and fodder for gossip circles. In each instance the victim was in their place of work. The EEOC receives almost 100,000 complaints a year and one-third are about harassment. The acts have become so prevalent, they become part of the organization’s humor (the Harvey Weinstein jokes at the Academy Awards) and become company legend. The behavior becomes normalized. [Read more…]