Workplace Harassment Reaches into The Remote Workplace: Concerns

As we consider how to open the workplace with possible hybrid options, one reality that has received too little attention is the increase in Workplace Harassment during the pandemic year. In this show, Kalpana Kotagal, partner at Cohen Milstein in the Civil Rights and Employment group, will consider recent findings from two surveys which reveal a significant rise of virtual harassment of many people working from home. Ms. Kotagal will consider whether the pandemic played a role in increasing existing harassment in the workplace or added new dangers and demands on employees working remotely. She will discuss the challenges of virtual work, the targets of virtual harassment (women, people of color, LGBTQ and older employees) and what happens when there is no witness and no bystander. Importantly she will offer her expertise in terms of the need for Employers and Human Resource Professionals to consider the ongoing issues of workplace harassment that compromise the safety, equality, mental and physical health of all employees in the office and the virtual workplace.