How to Stop Harassment: Professional Construction of Legal Compliance in Organizations

Most employers installed sexual harassment grievance procedures and sensitivity training by the late 1990s. It was personnel experts, not courts, legislatures, or lawyers, who promoted these antihar- assment strategies, drawn from the profession's tool kit. Personnel succeeded because it was executives, not public officials, who defined professional jurisdiction, and executives proved susceptible to per- sonnel's argument that bureaucratic routines could reduce legal risk. With each landmark in harassment law, more employers adopted the grievance procedures personnel advocated despite negative re- views from lawyers. Employers who consulted personnel experts were more likely to join the bandwagon; those who consulted law- yers were less likely. The case holds lessons for the evolution of professions, because executives play an increasing role in defining professional jurisdiction.