#TXLEGE: Charlie Geren's new sexual harassment policy is just as pathetic as we predicted....

"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage."
2 Peter 2:19

Game, set, match for the Texas Observer:

After reports surfaced in November that women have for years endured sexual harassment in the Texas Capitol, leaders in the House promised, among other actions, to provide sexual harassment training to legislators and their staff. We’ve got the training, and it’s a 40-minute video that seems unlikely to change the toxic atmosphere at the statehouse any time soon.

The training is a video of a PowerPoint presentation with a voiceover that also covers discrimination based on race, age, disability and genetics. Just 18 minutes of the video is dedicated to sexual harassment, including boilerplate examples of harassment, reasons to prevent it, laws against sexual harassment, the House’s policy and reporting mechanisms.

The whole video has a feeling of, ‘Let’s quick minimize liability on every front, watch this video,’” said Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University who researches sex discrimination and workplace equality.

Recent research shows that if training isn’t properly designed, it’s unlikely to lead to more reporting of harassment, much less reduce instances of inappropriate behavior. According to Eden King, a psychology professor at Rice University, there’s some evidence that training programs have better outcomes when they are longer than four hours, include face-to-face interaction, involve interactive learning, are conducted by outside experts and actively involve leaders in the workplace. The House video meets none of those criteria.

Instead of being paired with an interactive, in-person training as recommended by researchers, the video is available on the House’s internal server and is probably watched alone. Viewers are required to take a 10-question, multiple-choice test. To pass, you must answer at least seven questions correctly. If you fail, you can simply retake the test without having to watch the video a second time.

....

When institutions face allegations of sexual harassment, Grossman said, the instinct is often to establish programs that reduce legal liability. The law tends to reward somewhat “superficial or simplistic” measures, she said, such as merely implementing a policy or conducting training. A 2016 report from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that most of the harassment training conducted in the last 30 years has failed to reduce harassment and has instead been used to meet legal requirements. “Ineffective training can be unhelpful or even counterproductive,” the report noted.

....

Research shows that to create an environment of equality, institutions must go beyond training. One crucial aspect is to ensure that victims feel they have a safe way to report complaints.

The Observer piece is well-worth reading in full, but it closes with a recommendation that this website fully endorses:

Grossman said that to truly address harassment, the Legislature should conduct a comprehensive audit and study its work environment.

[Author's Note: Emphasis added.]

Yes, please do, and while you're conducting said audit, please keep in mind what we said a couple weeks ago about the toxic culture at the Capitol not being limited to sex.

Bottom Line: It's appalling.  But it's also not surprising.  What would you expect from a guy who's been engaged in a sexual relationship with a lobbyist for most of the past decade?!?