Deborah Erdos Knapp

The Americans with Disabilities Act

Purpose – Important Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)‐related issues that derive from the case law are described and analyzed with the aim of providing guidance both for those responsible for establishing organizational policies, procedures, and practices.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 50 influential court cases spanning the past ten years are reviewed and synthesized to better understand the current and future impact of the ADA.Findings – Better understanding of ADA can help employers both avoid costly litigation and take advantage of a segment of the US labor market that has not yet been fully utilized.Originality/value – This paper helps practitioner and researchers better understand the organizational implications of the ADA. Better understanding the current case law should lead to employer policies, procedures, and practices that facilitate the better utilization of the qualified disabled work force without compromising employer concerns related to productivity and other job‐related out...

An Empirical Examination of Same- and Other-Gender Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

This study examines sexual harassment (SH) whichinvolves members of the same gender, either male orfemale. Data are taken from the 1988 Department ofDefense Survey of Sex Roles in the Active Duty Military. Separate comparisons for male (38% White, 31%Black, and 31% ‘other’) and female (48%White, 27% Black, and 25% ‘other’) targetsare made between sameand other-gender SH related to fourmajor components of a conceptual model proposed by Fitzgerald,Drasgow, Hulin, Gelfand, & Magley (1997). Thesecomponents include sexual harassment behaviors, personalvulnerability, target response styles, and consequences of the SH for the target. The sexualorientation of targets and perpetrators is notconsidered because data were unavailable. Results reveala number of meaningful differences between sameandother-gender SH. The most striking result is that maletargets of same-gender SH experience consequences thatare significantly more pervasive and severe than thoseexperienced by male targets of other-gender SH.Organizational implications are discussed.

Russian workers’ experiences with and perceptions of sexual harassment severity

Abstract As the reach of global business operations increases, cultural context will likely influence the nature and amount of sexual harassment workers experience. Surprisingly, little is known about sexual harassment in Russia, an attractive target for expanding companies. To address this gap in the literature, we examine Russian workers’ perceptions of sexual harassment severity through the lens of cultural context. In particular, we examine the sexual harassment severity perceptions from the perspective of both targets and perpetrators. Results indicate that as targets of sexual harassment, Russian women and men held similar sexual harassment severity perceptions. However, as perpetrators, Russian women reported perceiving the harassment they committed as being less severe than the reports of Russian men. Further, among both targets and perpetrators, Russian women held less permissive sexual attitudes than Russian men, with this difference mediating the relationship between participant sex and perceived sexual harassment severity: women perceived greater severity than men because women hold less permissive sexual attitudes. Implications for research, practice, and the role of national culture in shaping the social construction of sexual harassment are discussed.

Experience With Consumer-Driven Health Plans: Does the Performance of High-Deductible Health Plans Match Expectations?

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS REVIEW

Using Health Savings Accounts to Provide Low-Cost Health Care

The recent Medicare Modernization Act made health savings accounts (HSAs) available to all non-Medicare individuals in the United States. HSAs can be combined with high-deductible health insurance plans to provide organizations with an economical approach for providing comprehensive health care coverage to their employees. Because unused funds accumulate over time, consumers are more likely to economize on their use of medical care. Proponents of HSAs argue that HSAs will slow the growth of health care costs in the United States Alternatively, critics suggest that HSAs will cause consumers to avoid necessary preventive care and will penalize the chronically ill. This article addresses these issues and includes examples of how HSAs affect both employers and employees.