Diane Stegmeier, Founder and CEO of Project WHEN (Workplace Harassment Ends Now), was recently interviewed by Courtney Godfrey, a reporter for Fox 9 News. Fox 9 is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, broadcasting the Fox network to the Twin Cities area. Courtney’s interview with Diane focused on a tragic story about the killing of Nicole Hammond, a woman in St. Cloud by a co-worker. Michael Carpenter killed Nicole Hammond, his co-worker, because she rejected his sexual advances. An examination of cell phone records revealed that Carpenter had made several unwanted advances to Hammond before eventually killing her in their workplace parking lot. 

In this interview, when Diane was asked how common sexual harassment is, she responded that it’s very common and it’s a huge social issue that’s growing and growing. She also added that according to a study conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), 90% of the individuals who say they experienced harassment never take formal action against the harasser such as filing a charge or a complaint. She added that 90% is a huge number of women did nothing after receiving unwanted advances. They may have told it to their colleagues or friends, but never really reported it to the proper authorities like Human Resources.

Diane highlighted that often, harassment is not reported because of various reasons, wherein victims usually say things such as:

• I’m afraid no one will believe me
• I believe that nothing will change 
• I didn’t want to get the harasser in trouble
• I don’t want to be seen as a tattle tale
• I believe that my employer would not do anything about it
• I fear retaliation

She highlighted that the fear of retaliation is the biggest reason why victims never reported it. That if they reported harassment, they might lose their job. Unfortunately, these happen a lot of time. One day you’re reporting that you’re being harassed, and the next day, your employer lets you go. “That’s illegal, but companies do it. You can experience things such as people just snubbing you in the workplace and just ignoring you, which certainly hurts your feelings; being reassigned to another department that’s not as prestigious or exciting as yours; or perhaps the worst, losing your job.”

Those kinds of things can really cause people to stop and think, and eventually not report harassment.

Lastly, Diane shared that the biggest lesson that we can take away from the news story about Michael Carpenter killing Nicole Hammond is that if harassment occurs,”women–and of course men too–have to jump on it and act immediately. You must talk to someone.” Not reporting always comes with a price–in Nicole’s case, her life.

If you are a victim of workplace harassment or a witness to it, Project WHEN has launched a comprehensive guide about your rights and what steps to consider when facing workplace discrimination.

How does Project WHEN help?

Project WHEN is working hard to spread an important message and encourage organizations to create a more respectful work culture. While we believe that awareness is essential, having a means to directly help victims of harassment would have a huge impact. It is why in addition to expanding our resources for companies and employees, we are working on establishing a victim support hotline.

We aim to offer support to victims by connecting them with someone who can guide them through what they can do to address the problem while being a pillar of emotional support. Our hope is to widen our reach and let everyone know that workplace harassment needs to end now and that help is available for anyone battling it.

Are you interested in taking action and creating a harassment-free workspace?

Project WHEN provides organizations with an opportunity to enroll in the WHEN™ Organizational Certification program wherein employers can go through a structured process of learning how to prevent workplace harassment and create a more respectful work environment.

Service providers, internal practitioners, and other professionals can obtain a micro-credential by enrolling in the WHEN™ Professional Certification program. It is a five-course module that Project WHEN, together with Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI), will be launching soon. This course is perfect for individuals passionate about driving change in the workplace and who want to be Anti-Harassment Certified Practitioners.

Getting Involved with Project WHEN

Learn more about how you can support us or get involved with our organization here.

Join our mailing list to stay updated about the latest Project WHEN news. We also encourage anyone passionate about eliminating workplace harassment to sign our Pledge of Commitment to demonstrate your support in creating respectful, harassment-free workplaces for future generations.