Employment Law Challenges for Medical Practices  

Focus on Sexual Harassment

It is often difficult for physicians to keep up with the routines of daily practice and to stay current with the ever-changing health care landscape. Yet physicians must not lose sight of the fact that they are employers as well as health care providers, and as employers they are legally responsible for providing their employees with a work environment free from sexual and other legally protected forms of harassment. Physicians can and (in some cases are) being found liable as employers for permitting harassment in their practice. This article reviews the basics of harassment liability and offers suggestions on how to reduce the physician's risk.

Statutory Backgrounds

Sexual harassment laws are found at both the federal as well as the state levels of government. Under federal law, sexual harassment is a for...