Current sexual harassment penalties are too low: Study

The current federal cap on monetary damages for workplace sexual harassment is far too low to incentivize firms to take stronger measures to prevent the behavior, writes Vanderbilt economist Joni Hersch in “Valuing the Risk of Workplace Sexual Harassment,” published in the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. Hersch is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Law and Economics and co-director of the Ph.D. program in Law and Economics at Vanderbilt Law School.