Webinar Transcript
Alan Cooper: Welcome to I Want to Hold Your Hand, the first in a series of webinars presented by the A. M. Skier insurance agency addressing timely topics in the camping industry. My name is Alan Cooper, and I’m general counsel and claims director at A. M. Skier, and I will be moderating this webinar.
Why Addressing Sexual Harassment is Crucial in Camp Setting
Today, we will be discussing an issue that is on everyone’s mind, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. I’ve heard many times that what was acceptable in 2017 is no longer acceptable in 2018, but I must disagree. Sexual harassment was not acceptable in 2017 nor in prior years. The difference is that now people are willing to come forward and to do something about it.
We will therefore focus upon the before and after, how to prevent harassment and misconduct by creating a culture within your camp that makes clear such conduct is unacceptable and how to react in the event a claim is made. The concepts we will discuss apply to both day camps and residential camps as well as to conduct both on campus and away from camp during time off.
In order to facilitate this discussion, we are joined by a panel of experts with various experience in this field. Kara Klaus-Major is the director of International Sports and Training Camp in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Fran Mendelowitz is a clinical social worker with vast experience treating the mental health aspects of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Tony Sherr is an attorney with over 30 years of litigation experience defending camps against claims of workplace misbehavior.
At the conclusion of this session, we hope that we have provided you with strategies to combat what is sure to be an issue of great concern to all.
How we’re going to start off is just to address, telling you something that you already know, how important this topic is and how it affects the camping world and the success of the camp on how a camp operates, and Kara, if you just take a minute or two to discuss that.
