The sexual harassment and sexual assault disclosures that are toppling national entertainment, media and political figures at a dizzying rate are resonating with everyday people in Connecticut.

Laura Cordes, executive director at the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, said the alliance's members throughout the state are reporting an increase in calls from survivors of sexual violence and from people who want to know how they can help.

"For those of us in the field, we've been focused on these issues for a long time," Cordes said. "These stories are all too familiar. But the national conversation, the #metoo stories, illustrate the pervasiveness of sexual violence throughout all communities."

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Most people understood that sexual harassment and sexual assault were problems, but the almost daily reports implicating familiar and previously trusted figures illustrate — starkly — that "many have used power or trust or their perceived position of trust to threaten, manipulate, harm and silence their victim," Cordes said.

"These stories are so detailed," she said. "We're going beyond saying, 'X numbers of people sought services,' or 'the Centers for Disease Control said ...' It's illustrating their behavior and particularly how offenders count on others to look the other way and to blame or scrutinize the victim when they disclose.''

The national spotlight on sexual harassment and sexual assault is helpful and encouraging for many, but some survivors are finding it difficult to cope with daily stories in the news and discussions in the workplace, Cordes said.

The movement coalesced after the disclosure in October 2016 of then presidential candidate Donald J. Trump's vulgar remarks about groping women, which he characterized as "locker room banter," before he was elected to what is arguably the most powerful position in the world. Disclosures of sexual harassment and assault incidents gained more momentum after Hollywood figures spoke out about film executive Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuse. USA Today has a running list on its website of those who have been accused since the Weinstein story "opened the floodgates."

Back in Connecticut, given the state of high alert about the issue of sexual misconduct, those who work in the field say it's a good time for employees and employers to think about their workplace culture beyond just reviewing the laws on sexual harassment.

"Personally, I think people need to take a gut check and go back to people and say, 'I was really horrible. I'm sorry,'" said Michelle Dumas Keuler, an attorney for Connecticut's Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

"I've been doing this for a while, and I'm surprised the hammer is falling so swiftly on people," she said.

The CHRO received 145 sexual harassment complaints in the fiscal year that ended June 30. More recent figures aren't available.

Private Facebook message

Attorney Jacques J. Parenteau of the Madsen, Prestley & Parenteau law firm, which represents employees in state and federal courts, said employers have to be proactive when they receive a complaint. He said he is representing a female hospital employee who was participating in a Facebook conversation with a co-worker when the man sent her private messages with pictures of his penis.

According to an affidavit, the woman told the man she found his actions "vile and disgusting." She said she reported the incident to management and was told the complaint would be forwarded to the human resources department. Three days later, she received a call from a human resources representative, who told her there was no basis for a report since the incident didn't happen while either party was at work. But when the woman returned to work following an unrelated leave of absence, she had to work with the man and she felt the environment was hostile as a result of her complaint, according to the affidavit.

Parenteau said sexual harassment that occurs outside the workplace should sometimes be investigated by the employer because it affects the workplace. In this case, the hospital's human resources office investigated the incident after the woman eventually contacted the hospital's compliance office, and the man who sent the photos was reprimanded.

In Connecticut, employers of three or more people are subject to the state law on sexual harassment and required to prominently post notices to employees concerning the illegality of sexual harassment and the remedies available to victims. Employers of 50 or more people are required to provide two hours of training on sexual harassment to new supervisors. Federal law also protects workers and cases are often filed simultaneously with the CHRO and federal Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.

Managers have to make it clear what is acceptable, and companies have to buy into the law in order for it to be effective, Keuler said. Many victims hesitate to come forward out of fear of retaliation, but retaliation also is against the law.

Keuler said she and other CHRO staff provide the two-hour training to supervisors as well as private firms. She said she tells people that after leaving the training, "You'll never compliment anyone, hug them or touch their arm." But it's more nuanced than that. Some people may be fine with being hugged, while others might find it offensive, and Keuler said she had even heard somebody complain about the way somebody looked at them.

"It comes down to a tolerance level of the person," she said. "Some people would never complain and some people are really sensitive. You can't necessarily judge until it's too late, and you don't know who overhears you. I had a woman who was just overhearing conversations that she found very offensive."

Also, Keuler said, employers can't overlook incidents that occur during "non-work hours."

"Things could happen on Facebook or social media that could pour back into their environment," she said.

If an employee doesn't receive any satisfaction in her workplace's human resource office, the CHRO is the next stop for sexual harassment and discrimination complaints. Employees don't need an attorney to complain to CHRO, which determines whether there is reasonable cause to believe discrimination has happened. Some complainants do hire an attorney and some cases are eventually removed to state or federal court, where higher awards for damages are available.

'Systemic discrimination in the workplace'

Attorney Todd Steigman of the Madsen, Prestley & Parenteau law firm said sexual harassment is just one form of gender discrimination in the workplace.

"It's part of a larger endemic problem of systemic discrimination in the workplace that women have to endure because of different power dynamics and forms of bias, some conscious and some unconscious," Steigman said. "There's pay disparity, a glass ceiling. Women get paid 80 cents on the dollar even today."

Steigman described a workplace dynamic that he said people might not realize is discrimination. He said when a man in power in the workplace exhibits strong leadership skills, it is viewed positively.

"If a female is in a managerial position and she exhibits the same qualities or abilities, it is not viewed as positively and she can receive unfair criticism for things such as her personality or interpersonal skills," he said.

Advocates say one way of addressing sexual violence before it occurs is to teach children that they are in control of their bodies, and about boundaries and healthy relationships. As of 2016, Connecticut school districts are required to provide sexual assault and abuse prevention and awareness programming to children from kindergarten to 12th grade.

Cordes said the alliance and other organizations are working to get the training into school systems.

k.florin@theday.com

Sexual harassment and sexual assault defined

Sexual harassment is a violation of a person's civil rights and is defined as follows by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission:

It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person's sex. Harassment can include "sexual harassment" or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.

Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person's sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general.

Both victim and the harasser can be either a woman or a man, and the victim and harasser can be the same sex.

Although the law doesn't prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.

Sexual assault is a criminal offense and, as defined the United States Department of Justice, is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling and attempted rape.