Bystander Training at Work: Standing By Is Not a Strategy

Course description

In this companion course to Harassment in the Workplace: Building a Respectful Culture, attorney Jill O'Brien equips employees and supervisors with the practical tools to intervene when they witness uncomfortable or potentially unlawful conduct, fulfilling Chicago's mandatory bystander intervention training requirement. O'Brien opens with a foundational overview on sexual harassment law, including quid pro quo and hostile environment harassment, zone of comfort, gender identity and orientation protections, and the totality of circumstances standard. The course then introduces the Four Ds framework — Delegate, Distract, Direct, and Delay — walking through concrete workplace scenarios that illustrate how each technique can be applied safely and effectively. O'Brien offers conversational treatment of why good intentions alone don't protect a workplace, and how bystander action shifts responsibility from victim to community.

Learning Objectives

• Distinguish between quid pro quo harassment and hostile environment harassment, and identify conduct that can give rise to each type of claim.

• Recognize that unlawful harassment encompasses conduct based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, and apply the "impact over intent" standard when evaluating workplace conduct.

• Apply the totality of circumstances test to evaluate whether conduct may rise to the level of unlawful harassment.

• Explain how bystander intervention shifts responsibility for addressing misconduct from the individual victim to the broader workplace community.

• Identify the Four Ds of bystander intervention — Delegate, Distract, Direct, and Delay — and select an appropriate strategy based on the situation and safety considerations.

• Describe steps a bystander can take after intervening, including how to support the affected person, document the incident, and report through appropriate channels.