NCJ Number
198740
Journal
Social Problems Volume: 49 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2002 Pages: 605-623
Date Published
November 2002
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the influence of legal factors versus extralegal factors in the resolution of sexual harassment claims in Canada.
Abstract
The authors explain that despite increasing formalization of workplace policies concerning sexual harassment, many cases end up before courts or human rights commissions. This study was concerned with examining how legal, extra-legal, and case processing factors influenced the outcome of these cases in a quasi-legal setting. The authors reviewed 267 sexual harassment complaints that ended up before the Canadian Human Rights Commission between 1978 and 1993. The legal variables that were studied included seriousness of offense, type of harassment, and prior criminal history. Extra-legal variables were the victim-defendant relationship, defendant characteristics, victim characteristics, and organization size. Case processing factors were conciliation factors and time period of the complaint. Results of the multivariate statistical analysis revealed that case processing variables and legal factors were the most salient influential factors guiding quasi-legal decision-making in sexual harassment cases. Only one extra-legal factor had a significant influence on decision outcome: organization size. Given the long tradition of sociological research that points to extra-legal factors as exercising significant influence in legal matters, the authors were surprised to find that in this study, extra-legal factors were not significant. They point out, however, that they did not consider gender, race, or socio-economic class as extra-legal factors since these variables varied little from case to case. More research is needed to explore the possible intervening extra-legal factors that help determine legal and quasi-legal case outcome. Tables, references