Sexual harassment cases down in Idaho

BOISE – Charges of sexual harassment on the job are beginning to decline in Idaho, the Idaho Human Rights Commission reported Tuesday.

Human Rights Commission director Leslie Goddard told legislative budget writers that sexual harassment, which made up about a quarter of the complaints the commission received every year since 2000, dropped to 17 percent in 2004.

“I was pleased to see a drop in the number of sexual harassment claims,” Goddard said. “It continues to be a problem in certain industries, most heavily in the fast-food industry.”

Goddard said employers have improved their policies, and sensitivity to the issue has risen over the past two decades. But in a small organization such as a fast-food restaurant, even the best of policies doesn’t help if “somebody at the bottom doesn’t get the message,” she said. “In fast food, you may have a manager who is 19 years old with three years experience. It’s a difficult area for employers to regulate.”

The Human Rights Commission filed 520 discrimination charges in 2004, most of them – 506 – for employment discrimination. There also were two cases each of discrimination in education and housing, and 10 cases of discrimination in public accommodations. That’s down slightly from the year before, but still higher than the 503 cases filed six years ago.

The Idaho Human Rights Commission is charged with investigating discrimination complaints and helping the parties reach settlements without going to court, as well as assisting employers and the public with how to avoid discrimination. The commission was established in 1969.

By law, its purpose is to ensure that “all people in this state are entitled to be free from discrimination in important areas of their lives,” Goddard said, including employment, housing, access to public accommodations and education.

The law charges the commission with looking at complaints of race, sex, color, religion or national origin discrimination in all those areas. It looks into disability discrimination in employment and housing, and age discrimination in employment.

“The numbers fluctuate from year to year, but employment discrimination cases consistently make up the bulk of our work,” Goddard told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.

The commission is funded by the state, a federal contract with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and case file copying fees. It is not seeking any state budget increase in the coming year; in fact, it’s planning to slightly reduce its use of state funds to use more federal funds.

Over the years, some lawmakers have criticized the commission without realizing what it actually does, she said. Several years back, the House nearly eliminated the commission’s budget.

“Part of my job is to try to make sure they have an accurate idea of what we do and what we don’t do,” Goddard said.