One month after firing its founder Dov Charney for allegations of sexual harassment by several female employees, the fashion company American Apparel hired Paula Schneider as its new CEO and introduced its new sexual harassment policy prohibiting any dating or romantic relationships between its managers and employees.

On one level, the new policy seems quite standard in that it prohibits employees from making “discriminatory slurs, or any other remarks, jokes or conduct that, in the judgment of the company, create an offensive or hostile work environment or otherwise constitute abusive conduct.”

On another level, the policy goes further than most modern employer sexual harassment policies in that it prohibits any management-level employee from dating any non-management employee. The policy states that “no management-level employee may make sexual advances, welcome or unwelcome, toward any subordinate, regardless of whether the subordinate reports to the management employee, either directly or indirectly.” Most company policies state that management employees may date and be involved in a romantic relationship with non-management employees as long as the relationship is disclosed and the manager does not directly supervise the non-management employee.

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New Policy Sends a Strong Message

Does American Apparel’s new sexual harassment policy go too far? Perhaps not for American Apparel in light of the presumably egregious allegations made against its former CEO and the presumed findings of its internal investigation of the allegations. Although I was not personally sitting in American Apparel’s board meeting as it discussed what to do, I imagine the board felt it needed to make a strong statement about its commitment to turning the culture (or perceived) culture around at American Apparel, while sending a strong message to consumers and shareholders of their commitment to reviving the company after large profit losses and drops in shares in recent months. The end result – a much stronger and robust anti-sexual harassment policy, along with other sweeping internal changes.

While some companies may not desire or feel the need to go as far as American Apparel in re-enforcing its commitment to preventing sexual harassment in the workplace, the American Apparel policy is a welcome reminder of the importance of employers having a strong preventive sexual harassment policy in place.

6 Elements of an Effective Policy

There are 6 key elements to an effective anti-sexual harassment policy:

1. A strong statement regarding the company’s commitment to preventing sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
2. A statement specifically prohibiting and establishing a “zero tolerance” for sexual harassment in the workplace.
3. A definition and examples of what types of conduct constitute sexual harassment in the workplace.
4. Guidance for employees on what to do if they believe they are being sexually harassed and how to report the alleged harassment, including the names, titles and contact information for the persons to whom employees may report. Companies might also consider establishing an independent employee hotline if the company culture or environment is of a nature where employees may not feel comfortable making internal reports or complaints.
5. Guidance for managers and supervisors on what to do if they become aware of a complaint or situation of possible sexual harassment or other forms of discrimination or harassment.
6. A statement regarding the company’s commitment to immediately responding to, investigating, and taking any necessary remedial action, on all complaints of sexual harassment.

Of course, “the proof is in the pudding!” In other words, a company’s policies are only as good as its commitment to and enforcement of the policies, particularly at the executive and management levels of the organization.

Good, bad or indifferent, with its new sexual harassment policy, American Apparel has challenged each of our organizations to take a new and fresh look at our preventive sexual harassment and other policies and determine whether they are effective at preventing sexual harassment and other forms of illegal and improper conduct in the workplace.