What are some of the main lessons that all employers can takeaway from the fallout of sexual harassment claims against Hollywoodproducer Harvey Weinstein?

First, it's not enough to have companypolicies against harassment of any kind – human resource departments need to have thefull support of company boards, experts say. This means that boarddirectors themselves have to take more responsibility instilling azero-tolerance culture from the top-down – and notjust quietly dispatching harassment claimsusing confidentiality agreements, or keeping potentialaccusers quiet with non-disclosure agreements.

Bottom line: boards need to take real action sothat everyone – including those in the C-Suite – knowsthat harassment simply will not be permitted.

Vault editor Phil Scott writes that it starts withbetter training and enforcement around harassment in the workplace,and has to include a mechanism where people who are experiencingharassment can come forward without fear of retaliation.

David Southall, an employment law consultant for theU.K. ELAS Group, tells growth.business.co.uk that it's notsufficient just to have policies in place.

“Thought should be given to how comfortable employees would beraising issues which are potentially career ending, especially ifthey are made against a person in a powerful position such as Mr.Weinstein,” Southall says. “There needs to be faith in theworkforce that if they raise sensitive concerns these will be dealtwith in a sensitive and supportive manner.”

Quietly financially settling with the accuser, in return fortheir commitment to not go public about the harassment “may workonce or twice,” he says. But where is becomes a habit, boarddirectors need to look to the cause of the problem and actuallydeal with it.

Jonathan T. Hyman, a partner with Meyers, Roman, Friedberg &Lewis in Cleveland, tells Business Insurance that ifboard members see large checks going out, “maybe you should asksomebody why we're cutting so-and-so a $100,000 check — and if youdon't have the answer, maybe you have an obligation to get to thebottom of what's going on.”

Paul E. Starkman, a member of law firm Clark Hill P.L.C. inChicago says that board directors and even major shareholders mightneed additional training about what they themselves should do.

They “need to recognize that this is an issue, and the fact thatthe person has increased the bottom line and met financial goalsdoes not mean that they're filling all their responsibilities asleaders, because you cannot have subordinates” in the humanresources or legal departments “trying to tell CEOs and owners ofcompanies what they can and cannot do,” Starkman tells BusinessInsurance.

“They can try, but it's often a recipe for a quick exit out ofthe organization, so it has to come from the people who haveinfluence on the top-level decision-makers, and then it needs to becarried through in terms of training and oversight down theorganization,” Starkman adds.