Is it 1980?

The Short Takeaway: People don’t report sexual harassment because of companies like RedBull and people like Christian Horner. If you want to create a safe workplace, you have to stop making excuses for your high performers (yes, even if they are married to Ginger Spice…aka Geri Halliwell)

An image from the actual 1980s…

In the last 2 weeks, I have asked “What year is it, 1980?” at least 10 times.

Here’s a list of some of the events that prompted this question:

1.     My property manager asking me for a cheque. A cheque?! Who has these anymore?!

2.     The company website which stated, “please allow 12 weeks for delivery” for towels! TWELVE WEEKS FOR TOWELS! I’m not looking for fast fashion or even Amazonian shipping speeds – just something in the same month would do.

3.     Red Bull Racing suspending the person who filed a harassment complaint about team principle, Christian Horner. Yes, you read that correctly. Red Bull Racing suspended the complainant – not the person about whom they complained.

I’ve spoken about the Red Bull story over drinks and in zoom rooms. Each time I reiterate this story, the room and even the margarita roll their eyes.

My face (minus the anger) when I first read this story.

If you haven’t heard this one, let me fill you in…

In February, an anonymous source accused RedBull Racing’s Team Principle (think team manager or head coach vibes), Christian Horner (who most importantly, is the husband of Geraldine Estelle Halliwell, international treasure, Ginger Spice), of “inappropriate controlling behavior.” In response, RedBull Racing conducted an independent investigation into Horner’s behavior, in which Horner allegedly spends and entire day cooped up speaking to lawyers in central London.

As a result of this investigation, RedBull Racing cleared Horner of the allegations.

No more information regarding the investigation or the allegations was shared.

A few weeks later, the person who filed the complaint emailed 79 documents containing images of inappropriate messages involving Horner to major international journalists, as well as team and F1 managers. The dump oozees with overtly creepy messages about flexibility, Spanx and “what’s in them,” and selfie requests of skirt choices and bendy positions.

Ew.

In a very 1980s move, Red Bull Racing then suspends the complainant. Again, for you in the back: Red Bull Racing suspends the complainant – not the person about whom the complains were made. 

It is 20-fucking-24 (a reminder in case you too find yourself in a time machine) and here we are punishing someone for speaking up.

Sir Lewis Hamilton, the 7 time F1 Champion and current Mercedes driver summed up the problem best when he shared his thoughts:  

‘It is still a male-dominated sport. We’re living in a time where the message is if you file a complaint, you will be fired and that is a terrible narrative to be projecting to the world, especially when we’re talking about inclusivity in the sport.”

I don’t know any more than you or any Chad on the street about what happened between Christian Horner and the complainant.

But here is what the science tells us:

Sexual harassment is severely under reported. At least 1 in 28 workers in the US report experiencing harassment at work but only 1 in 11,000 file a formal complaint with the EEOOC.(1) Similar results are seen globally, with countries like the UK reporting that of those who experience sexual harassment in the workplace nearly 80% do not report it.(2)

o   The “at least” is important here. It’s highly probably that a much larger proportion of individuals experience harassment in the workplace on a regular basis.

o   Context also matters. Reports of workplace harassment are usually conducted in “typical” white and blue collar settings. Think, offices, medicine, the military, construction sites. Where this research is typically not conducted is with those holding particularly precarious positions - sex workers, servers, flight crews, truck drivers, refugees…

o   When taking these factors into account, the rate of underreporting is likely much higher than is currently estimated.

Research repeatedly shows that victims of sexual harassment do not report for a number of reasons including concerns over retaliation.(3) We see this clearly in the responses regarding Harvey Weinstein:

“Virtually all of the people I spoke with told me that they were frightened of retaliation. “If Harvey were to discover my identity, I’m worried that he could ruin my life,” one former employee said.”(4)

Other research finds that victims of sexual harassment don’t report because they believe it will have a “negative impact on their working relationships,” they “won’t be taken seriously,” and fear of a “negative impact on their career.”(2)

The worry about reporting stems from a real threat facing victims.  History, including this Red Bull example, repeatedly show us that those who speak up face negative consequences such as career setbacks, in addition to the physical and emotional trauma experienced from these events.

My own work with Dr. Jennifer Griffith at the University of New Hampshire found that a typical response will be to move the person who files the complaint to a new department or area so that they don’t have to work with that individual anymore. This can have serious career consequences depending on where that person is moved to. Meanwhile, the perpetrator can continue as they did before… (3)

The collective eye roll in response to this story tells us something – Red Bull’s response shocks no one. We’ve seen this response time and time again, across industries and generations. The perpetrator of sexual harassment keeps their job. Meanwhile, the victim faces consequences.

Time to make that to do list!

What can leaders take away from this to make the workplace a little better and a lot less 1980?

1.     Let’s start with the obvious: Don’t punish someone for speaking up. Doing so sends a signal to everyone that speaking up will be retaliated against. It builds a culture of silence and fear that hampers progress, creativity, safety, well-being, and performance.

2.     Train all employees to know what sexual harassment means and looks like. Providing employees with the knowledge of what is and is not acceptable behavior allows them to know when they should speak up and importantly, what behavior won’t be tolerated. 

3.     Create a safe work environment. When we think about safety, we often think about physical safety, but psychological safety matters too. Stamping out sexual harassment in our workplace means that employees feel both physically and psychologically safe. They feel physically safe from any form of violence and psychologically safe from manipulation. But it also means that they feel safe to report instances of harassment and assault.

Ask yourself and others in your organization, do your employees feel safe to speak up? Do they feel safe to share their thoughts and ideas? Do they feel safe to raise issues without fear of consequence?

4.     Question your judgment. One of the major reasons we punish the complainant and not the perpetrator of sexual harassment is because of complex power dynamics. Typically, those doing the harassment are of a higher status in the organization and hold some power or sway. So it is important to check in with ourselves and question our initial, automatic response to a report.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get started.

One more quick note while you’re here…

A common response to allegations of sexual harassment or stories of this nature goes something like this:

 “What if it isn’t true?”

“What if she’s lying?” (because it’s usually a she reporting)

Research conducted on false allegations of sexual assault suggest that a small percentage (between 2% and 7%) of cases are falsely reported 5, 6

Does false reporting happen? Yes. Is this problematic? Also, yes.

However, the data overwhelming suggests that the much larger issue here is that sexual harassment is consistently and persistently under-reported. Although up to 7% of harassment cases may be false, at least 75% of harassment cases are never reported.

And in this case, we can see the icky texts with our own, bright, beautiful eyes. And yet, we still a chorus of “what if she’s lying?”…telling, eh?

References

1.     Dahl, G. B. & Knepper, M. M. (2021). Why is workplace sexual harassment underreported? The value of outside options amid the threat of retaliation. National Bureau of Economic Research.

2.     Trades Union Congress. (2016). Still just a bt of banter? Sexual harassment int eh workplace in 2016.

3.     Medeiros, K. E. & Griffith, J. G. (2019). Double-edged scalpels: The trials and triumphs of women surgeons. Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, 9(3), 221 – 227.

4.     Farrow, R. (October 10, 2017). From aggressive overtures to sexual assault: Harvey Weinstein’s accusers tell their stories. The New Yorker.

5.     Lisak, D., Gardinier, L., Nicksa, S. C., & Cote, A. M. (2010). False allegations of sexual assault: An analysis of ten years of reported cases. Violence Against Women, 16(12).

6.     Lonsway, K. A., Archambault, J., & Lisak, D. (2009). False reports: Moving beyond the issue to successfully investigate and prosecute non-stranger sexual assault. Prosecutor Journal of the National District Attorneys Association, 43(1).