discrimination Eliminate at your business

By Lenelle Duecker Vice President TriWest Insurance Services/USl Sherman Oaks, Ca.

S EXUAL harassment, discrimina\)tion and wrongful termination are issues facing every business which employs human beings.

These claims are no longer covered under your General Liability or Workers Compensation policies-and they are growing. From 1992 to 1996, sexual harassment lawsuits rose 160%o, while jury awards for them rcse 25OVo! It takes a lot of sales to pay attorney fees, settlements, and your time in collecting data to defend yourself.

Discrimination and wrongful termination suits (age, gender, ethnicity, etc.) are also on the rise. So, do you need to buy an Employment Practices Liability @PL) policy to protect your business?

Let's focus on sexual harassment since it is both frequently misunderstood and on the increase. What exactly constitutes sexual harassment? Some cases are clearimproper touching, lewd comments, unusually uuggestive pictures, pressure to go out socially.

Other forms are more subtle and in those cases the courts have usually found in the claimant's favor. Ninety-five percent of all cases fall into the "Hostile Environment" category, defined as "conduct which interferes with an employee's work or is perceived as creating an intiinidating, hostile or offensive work environment."

As a business owner or manager the last thing you want is a good employee operating at less than capacity due to the unwant- ed, inappropriate actions of another employee, correct?

Con'sider this viewpoint accepted by the experts-sexual harassment is not about sex, it's about control. If the alleged perpetrator is a manager, is this your corporate style? And if it is not a manager, do you allow one employee to control another? Either way, sexual harassment is not good business.

Here are three rules of thumb for you and all your employees:

(l) Would I want my words/actions published on the front page of the paper?

(2) Would I say/do them to my spouse, parent, child?

(3) Do they futther business?

If you cannot answer yes to all three, then do not do it or say it.

While you cannot control another (though you will be legally liable for their actions), nor prevent fraudulent suits, you can develop a strong management plan to protect your business.

Here are some components: o Publish a policy statement which forbids actions which are illegal: harassing, discriminatory, unfair. Have employees read and sign off. Repeat your message annually. o Provide a clear path for the victim to follow in reporting infractions. o Supply training to managers on how to deal with incidents. An insensitive supervisor can turn a splinter into an amputation very quickly. o Conduct confidential meetings with the claimant to collect data, then interview witnesses and the alleged perpetrator(s). Document all meetings, conversations, etc. o Follow your corporate guideIines-mediation, write up, suspension, termination, etc. o Enforce the policy evenly on all cases.

So, do you need an EPL policy? You owe it to yourself to get quotes, discuss coverage, and have a broker who can train your managers.

Do not wait until you have a claim to investigate this subject. You owe it to your business and your employees. Do not be misled-an employee engaged in harassing (or discriminating) against another is not harmless. He or she is already costing you profit dollars, and the potential for an ugly claim is growing.

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Cheirn Lurnber, San Jose, Ca., closed its retaiVmfg. complex after 75 years to concentrate on wholesaling; Bob Cheim, owner

Mesquite Lumber & Supply, Mesquite, Nv., is building a new 15,000-sq. ft. store for a June opening; Tod Leavitt, owner; Charley Cluff, mgr. ...

Riverside County Lumber Co. Riverside, Ca., is closing after 70 years; Phil Abraham, owner; the nearby Depot has hung a banner reading, "Welcome Riverside County Lumber Customers"

Eagle Hardware & Garden, which plans to open 20-30 stores in So. Ca. over the next five years, opened its 1st in Ca.-a 197,000sq. ft. unit in La Quinta; selected sites in Chino Hills, Westminster and Long Beach, Ca., and this year will add stores in Denver, Seattle, Reno and Sparks, Nv. ...

Rockler Woodworking & Hardware is the new nanb for The Woodworkers' Store, Orange, Ca. ...

Woodworkers Lumber Co., Los Gatos, Ca., has been leveled to make way for an office building ...

Terry Lutnber Co.b Camarillo, Ca., yard was recently flooded by storms with 2.5 ft. of water

Home Q.ppot opens its lst Alaska store April 9 in Anchorage, Lori Dzingle, mgr.; unveils home centers April 16 in Bellingham, Wa., and April 30 in Las Vegas, Nv., and opens its lst Pro store April30 in Colma, Ca.

Home Depot broke ground on a 114,000-sq. ft. store in Idaho Falls, Id., and a 115,000-sq. ft. store in Coeur d'Alene, Id.; got the okay to build its 3rd Reno, Nv., unit, and selected a site in Carson City, Nv. ... Temple City, Ca., residents are upset over a 129,000-sq. ft. Depot proposed for 12.5 acres just across city lines in El Monte, Ca.

Ideal Home Improvement, Santa Ana, Ca., is moving to a larger, 5,000-sq. ft. location in Huntington Beach. Ca. ...

Wtrol,:sluns/tllnu rrsunrns

Omak Wood Products, Omak, Wa., in Chapter 11 since last year, has released the required 60-day notice that the firm-mav close iir early June; it is expec[ed Omak will be sold before then

Inte rnational Wood Products. Clackamas, Or., agreed to buy Fasters Wholesale,Medford, Or. ...

Keller Lumber Sales, Inc., Redding, Ca., has added three acres and built a new 10,000-sq. ft. dry storage shed exclusively foi its TrusJoist MacMillan I-joists ...

West Coast Hardwoods/Straightline Investments is the reorganiiing successor firm to North Coast Hardwoods, Arcata, Ca., headed by former North Coast pres. Matt Galt; the firm is making 200,000 bd. ft. per month of tanoak and madrone lumber and flooring

Colville Indian Precision Pine, Omak, Wa., began a $3 million expansion to broaden its product mix and increase quality, adding a 48 bin sorter and optimizing trimmer ...

South Coast Lumber, Brookings, Or., has spun off its plywood operations into affiliated firm Pacific Wood Laminates, joining its LVL operations; lumber, stud, veneer, chip and timber operations continue under the South Coast name ...

Hampton Lumber has relocated SYP sales from its southern mills to its Portland, Or., sales office ...

Wood Fiber Products, Lockeford, Ca., down since Dec. 12 after defaulting on nearly $4 million on loans from Sanwa Bank, is in the hands of a court-named receiver

Evergreen Lumber & Molding, Orange, Ca., has moved to new offices in Anaheim, Ca.

Cascade Forest Group, Lake Oswego, Or., is handling sales for Freres Lumber's Mill City, Or., plywood plant, formerly operated as North Santiam Plvwood: Freres recently joined the APA

Sequoia Shutters, Pacoima, Ca., has been purchased by Bruce and Randy Landsberger ...

Western Millwork & Lumber is moving its operation atross town to the former Pioneer Wholesale property in Salt Lake City, Ut. ...

Wood Window Distributors, Inc. relocated its Tiralatin, Or., DC ...

Las Animas Wood Products, Durango, Co., wa$ sold by Jeff Willis to partner Tim Spellman; the hardwood and softwood distribution yard includes a custom milling and moulding facility to produce a wide variety of specialty products, including antiques, exotics, siding, flooring, decking, cabinet and furniture materials

(Jniversal Forest Products has completed its $17.5 million acquisition of Advanced Component Systems, Lafayette, Co. ...

Eoco Forest Products, Issaquah, Wa., is handling sales for Cascade Cedar Supply, Gold Bar, Wa.

G e o rg ia- P ac ffi c b abandoned lumber drying yard in Fort Bragg, Ca., may be converted into an abalone farm...

RealWorld acquired the assets of I nformation Enab lin g Te chnologies, Salt Lake City, Ut. ...

Johns Manville Corp., DeRver, Co., agreed to buy the manufacturing assets of Canadian ISO foam products maker Exebherm Inc. and to sell its last remaining mining interest to Franco-Nevada Mining Corp. for $36 million ..

Kerr McGee Chemical sold its The Dalles, Or., treating plant and five others to private merchant bark Castle Harlan, Inc.

WTD Industries, Portland, Or., adopted a shareholder rights plan to guard against a takeover...

Sunbeam Corp. agreed to buy Coleman Co., Signature Brands USA and First Alert ...

Eclectic Products Inc., Springfield, Or., has acquiret Seal-All All-Purpose Adhesive

Anniversaries: Andy Jones Lumber Co., Medford, Or., 40th Taylor Lumber Services, Grand Terrace, Ca.,5th ...

Housing starts in Feb. (latest figs.) climbed 6Vo to a 1.636 million annual rate single-family building was up 47o to 1.27 million units; multi-family hit 68,000 for 2-4 units, 298,000 for 5+ units permits rose 6Vo to 1.625 million.