The allegations of sexual harassment swirling around Mayor Jim West should remind leaders everywhere that such behavior is a basic violation of civil rights, should not be tolerated and can put governments and businesses at great risk.

Ryan Oelrich claims that after West appointed him to – of all places – the Spokane Human Rights Commission, the mayor began asking for dates and making inappropriate sexual comments. Oelrich ultimately became disillusioned about why he was appointed and resigned. He said he finally turned to the media after he was unable to find an agency where he could report the mayor’s alleged behavior.

Victims of sexual harassment should not be discouraged by this, because there are readily available avenues to pursue. It might seem like chief executives are immune from punishment because they have such widespread influence, but that isn’t the case.

Like most businesses and governmental agencies, Spokane City Hall has a detailed anti-harassment policy. Employees are expected to attend sexual harassment awareness seminars every three years. If workers think their Human Resources Department has a conflict of interest, they can turn to the State Human Rights Commission or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Quite naturally workers fear that filing a complaint will put their jobs in jeopardy, but state and federal laws are on their side and forbid retribution. The onus is clearly on the employer of the offender to take responsible action. Plus, such retribution would raise the financial stakes if a lawsuit were to be filed. In short, it could cost the business or agency a lot of money. That alone should get their attention.

Sound sexual harassment policies and education programs also address the responsibilities of the victims. They should be encouraged to speak forcefully to harassers that their actions and behaviors are inappropriate. From there, it is up to supervisors to take every complaint seriously. They shouldn’t get hung up on whether the behavior fits their definition of harassment. All that matters is that the offended worker feels uncomfortable.

Oelrich said he did exactly that and it didn’t work. Everyone needs to be reminded what the next steps are and be encouraged to take them.