Cape County to consider mandatory harassment awareness training

Cape Girardeau County commissioners today will review a plan to offer sexual harassment awareness training to employees and elected officials.

A letter has already been sent to elected officials, department heads and supervisors for a Sept. 9 class on the subject.

The county can't require elected officials to attend the training. During Monday's commission meeting, 2nd District Commissioner Jay Purcell suggested requiring attendance for the 90-minute class offered to employees set for later in September. First District Commissioner Larry Bock said he wasn't sure the county could mandate attendance.

Treasurer Roger Hudson, who was at Monday's meeting, said one concern mentioned at a previous commission meeting was handling county operations while employees were attending the class. Purcell suggested offering the training on more than one date, then said he would ask the full commission to decide the matter at today's meeting.

Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones was not at Monday's meeting but spoke about the issue by phone Wednesday.

He said the county's elected officials "are being strongly encouraged to attend" but cannot be compelled to do so. Because the class is being offered for the first time, Jones said, he expected most employees to attend. Highway workers were given an exemption, he said, for space reasons, though their supervisor, Scott Bechtold, will attend the Sept. 9 class. Jones said the county was within its rights to make attendance mandatory, but wasn't sure it was immediately necessary.

"If we find there's a high absentee rate, we might change our attitude," he said. "But we're strongly encouraging all county employees to attends, which included elected officials. So far we haven't demanded it. I suspect everybody will be there."

He said the county could offer future sessions to accommodate those unable to attend because of conflicts.

Other local governments handle sexual harassment awareness training in a variety of ways, including not at all.

In Bollinger County, sheriff's deputies are required to attend such classes at least once a year, chief deputy Leo McElrath said Tuesday. He said he looks at sexual harassment "as a very serious offense. Employees have to respect other employees."

McElrath said dispatchers have not routinely been included in the training but could be in the future. Earlier this year, he said he investigated a complaint by a female employee against a man from outside the department.

"We did a normal criminal investigation," he said. "The employee did nothing wrong. She was the one that was harassed."

He said if a similar incident had occurred within the sheriff's department, he would have asked the Missouri State Highway Patrol to investigate.

The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department offers training, but not on an annual basis, according to Capt. Ruth Ann Dickerson, who leads the department's business office.

"We don't have a set standard of every six months or every two years," she said. The classes, organized by the Missouri Sheriff's Association, are not mandatory, she said.

The department's personnel manual, drafted in 2000, outlines expectations for appropriate behavior and complaint procedures. She said no incidents have been reported.

Scott County Sheriff's Department Capt. Gregg Ourth said the awareness training is part of initial employment orientation, but "other than that we do not have any special classes."

He said no complaints have been made in his department, but the complaint process is simple.

"Employees report to their immediate supervisor, and the supervisor will report it to the sheriff," he said.

In Cape Girardeau and Jackson, classes are routinely held and attendance is mandatory.

Cape Girardeau city manager Doug Leslie said a training program for all employees was completed earlier this year.

J.J. Wiseman, who handles Jackson's human resources training, said he reviews city policies -- contained in a manual revised in 2007 -- with new employees, who watch educational videos on sexual harassment prevention and ethics. Employees must watch the videos annually and sign a form acknowledging they have seen it, he said.

"I think it's a good idea to have the training," Bock said Tuesday, but he remained concerned about enforcing attendance rules and determining consequences for missing the class.

In an e-mail Tuesday afternoon, Purcell wrote, "the county commission not only has the authority to mandate but should mandate that all of our associates go through this training. Elected office holders would be encouraged to attend but could not be mandated."

The Cape Girardeau County Commission meets at 9 a.m. today on the third floor of the county administration building, 1 Barton Square, Jackson.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127