In April 2024, Mitratech Compliance Training Solutions launched its advanced harassment training courseware in response to the EEOC’s first major guidance update in over 25 years.

On April 29, 2024, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released its Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, an over 180-page document updating a similar report from 1999. This heavily anticipated report is the first major guidance from the EEOC on harassment in the workplace in 25 years. Aware of the Enforcement Guidance’s impact on harassment training (and prevention practices in general), Mitratech waited to release the 2024 version of its industry-leading workplace harassment courseware to be in tune with the EEOC’s approach.

Having carefully considered each of the 77 examples in the guidance (and all the EEOC’s thorough analysis), Mitratech has developed a cutting-edge course fully aligned with the EEOC’s latest guidance, setting a new standard for the industry. To help understand the implementation of the EEOC’s guidance, this article analyzes the critical changes made to Mitratech’s harassment prevention training course. As the courseware is refreshed annually, there will be a dedicated focus on the Enforcement Guidance (and any supplements released), as this approach reflects the agency’s priorities when it determines whether to litigate harassment and discrimination cases.

The following key changes were made to Mitratech’s courseware with consideration of the EEOC Enforcement Guidance:

Emphasis on Pregnancy Harassment and Discrimination

Section II(A)(5)(b) of the EEOC guidance indicates the EEOC’s focus on litigating cases related to pregnancy harassment and discrimination under Title VII’s ban on sex-based discrimination. While Mitratech’s courseware always contained several examples of pregnancy (and related conditions) as illegal sex harassment, we increased the number of examples focusing on this area for our latest version.

One new example describes a situation where an employee is being subjected to personal questions about changes in their body due to a pregnancy, the resulting offense, and analysis of the situation. Following this area of emphasis, the exercise and quiz sections are altered to track the EEOC focus on the decision to have (or not have) an abortion, birth control issues, interest in pregnancy (including same-sex couple birth stereotypes and methods of conception), and comments regarding lactation.

Strengthening this area of the course will allow learners to better understand pregnancy discrimination and harassment and better prepare members of your organization to recognize (and prevent) this type of illegal behavior.

Inclusive Coverage of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Harassment

Section II(A)(5)(C) of the Enforcement Guidance discusses the EEOC emphasis on harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, sexual orientation and gender identity were recognized as illegal forms of sex discrimination (and therefore harassment) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Given the wide number of states who had proactively protected sexual orientation and gender identity as specific forms of harassment, Mitratech’s workplace harassment courseware was already well-prepared for this change.
Mitratech considered all examples provided by the EEOC and altered the following sections to align with the specific issues the agency is focusing on per its Enforcement Guidance:

• New instruction points based on examples 14-15 to include specific comments based on sexual orientation and gender identity (and associated stereotypes)
• An increased emphasis on pronoun usage in a specific exercise
• Specific instruction points about the illegality of denying restroom usage to persons based on their gender identity (an original scenario was crafted about this issue)
• An example of exclusion of same-sex spouses from a work banquet (altered form of an EEOC utilized example)
• Examples of refusing preferred name usage as potential harassment
• A detailed exercise on gender identity; sexual orientation; and gender expression harassment based on points of emphasis in section II(A)(5)(c)
• A number of post-instruction quiz questions were re-formulated to stress situations emphasized by the EEOC in its Enforcement Guidance

Mitratech’s new course also considers EEOC’s focus on discrimination related to other sex-based issues. A new exercise has been added to highlight the subtle differences pointed out in the Enforcement Guidance between general employment discrimination and harassment (while noting that harassment is indeed a form of discrimination). By doing so, Mitratech was able to use several other examples highlighted in the guidance, such as:

• Stereotypes of clothing choice
• Offensive thoughts on nonbinary individuals
• Stereotypes about jobs based on gender roles
• Differences between hostile environment harassment and discrimination, such as disallowing same-sex spouses at work events.

The courseware also highlights the EEOC’s emphasis on associational harassment and discrimination by utilizing the concept in a scenario wherein an employee is targeted for harassment based on her child being transgender. We also specifically noted the EEOC’s emphasis on sex-based harassment, and cited examples from the guidance that were highlighted therein in bulleted fashion in our instructional material.

Addressing Harmful Stereotypes

In section II(B)(3), the EEOC highlights its focus on stereotyping as a means of establishing causation for a sex harassment claim. Examples 30-31 concern stereotypes about gender roles and women. In addition to the examples discussed in the sex-based section above, Mitratech created a new exercise about stereotyping that highlights the EEOC’s position on this issue, and how employees can be negatively impacted by this behavior. Learners are allowed to select examples of stereotyping (and derogatory comments) about race, sex, religion, and the choice whether to become a parent (or not). This approach allows learners to understand that harassment need not be based on hostility to a particular group, but can cause a hostile environment to occur, which is how the EEOC is approaching these cases.

In order to contrast the negative connotation associated with identifying stereotypes, Mitratech also created a new exercise in its course that shows positive ways employees can learn more about one another, without employing the use of bias or offensive stereotype, so as to ensure learners are not confused about the positive impact on culture that can be derived by getting to know one another well at work (without doing anything offensive or illegal).

Integration of Cross-Bases Issues

In section II(A)(10), the EEOC identifies cross-bases issues as a key area of enforcement in its litigation practices. The agency points out that harassment can occur even if interclass, associational, or based on multiple characteristics. To align with the EEOC’s emphasis, Mitratech altered several of its examples to better highlight associational harassment scenarios. New Instructional segments on intersectional harassment, multiple characteristic harassment, and mistaken assumptions were also added. Doing so allows learners to better understand these sometimes-complicated areas and more easily identify subtle issues.
Specifically, Mitratech has upgraded its course in the following ways to align with EEOC emphasis on cross-bases issues:

• Added instructional segment on incorrect assumptions and their potential for a variety of forms of harassment
• Created an original exercise based on identifying areas where harassment due to association can occur, including examples following consideration of EEOC examples 21-25
• Crafted a new instructional segment concerning intraclass harassment (with new examples)
• Added an instructional segment and scenario-based exercise highlighting systemic harassment (as emphasized by the EEOC guidance)
• Prepared a recap of the different types of cross-bases issues and their impact on workplace culture (with additional key examples)

Effective Corrective Action Strategies

Section IV(2)(c)(3)(b)(i-iii) discuss reasonable corrective action toward complaints of harassment (including investigations). While Mitratech’s courses already contain an industry leading “Speak Up and Listen Up” process for employee reporting of concerns (and manager action), our new course has directly cited (in bullet form)the EEOC’s considerations as listed in the Enforcement Guidance. The citation to this material enhances our own original process and does not replace it. Upon reviewing the considerations set forth by the EEOC we felt including this material strengthened our course, and the learner opportunity to understand what the EEOC feels is best, although Mitratech’s process goes several steps further.

In addition to citing the EEOC corrective action process, we crafted two wholly original scenarios that blend all elements of the EEOC’s emphasis with Mitratech’s Speak Up and Listen Up corrective action plans so that nothing will be missed by the learner.

Mitratech’s Commitment to Progressive Training Solutions

This document summarizes significant changes made to Mitratech’s workplace harassment courseware following an in-depth, detailed review and analysis of the Enforcement Guidance. While some areas of emphasis in the 180-page document were already well covered in our courseware, we made standard incremental upgrades to the instruction and examples in those areas.

The detailed changes discussed here represent key updates but are by no means exhaustive. Learners can feel confident our approach not only aligns with that of the EEOC, but it far exceeds the breadth of topics discussed in that document. Users should feel confident they will leave Mitratech’s instruction with an expanded knowledge of topics in tune with the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance, and with the security that they have taken the most contemporary e-learning prevention of sexual harassment (and discrimination) course on the market.

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