Sexual harassment in a small-business setting tends to present differently than in a towering office-building in corporate America.

For one thing, there is a certain degree of expectation (not to be confused with approval) that some sexually oriented impropriety will occur in a large office. When an individual is working his or her way up the corporate ladder, it is fairly inevitable that he or she will cross paths with a few insensitive jerks simply because of the statistical probability based on numbers of employees.

Big corporate offices are better equipped to deal with sexual-harassment issues, possibly because they occur with greater frequency. These businesses have human-resources departments that can be called in, mana-gers to address complaints and other departments that could accommodate transfers.

Veterinary practices are much like other small businesses in that the environment is, for better or worse, close-knit.

Second, the physical space is fairly compact, making it difficult to avoid the person or persons creating the sexually-oriented discomfort.

Third, there is an element of industry-specific sexual "aura" in the animal-health industry, in that such a large portion of day-to-day discussion revolves around matters of reproduction and genital anatomy. These topics can lead a weirdo to believe that it is somehow acceptable to inappropriately analogize, make implications and construct innuendos within an otherwise clinical discussion.

Adopt a zero-tolerance policy

But what may pass as acceptable or harmless "gutter-speak" in the canyons of Wall Street or Madison Avenue must not be tolerated in your animal clinic. Remember that big companies have big legal departments and large insurance policies that might permit them to look the other way when a sexually hostile culture exists in a single division or office.

It is not unreasonable to believe that a multinational corporation could have a tacit policy of ignoring "minor," though chronic, departures from accepted sexual-harassment rules, as long as the problem department is productive and profitable.

Small businesses, including professional practices, are much different. When a sexual-harassment situation exists, everybody usually knows about it, so there are many witnesses.

Besides that, in a medical practice it is often the case that both the person creating the sexually hostile environment and the person(s) offended are long-term workers, individuals who have worked or will work together for many years.

Therefore, any potential harassment case has both duration and provability, so the victim can show that he or she had nowhere to go but out.

Defining improper conduct

As one of the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court once said, it may be difficult to define pornography, "but I know it when I see it."

The same applies to workplace sexual harassment.

There is no point in trying to define sexual harassment here. Generally, I think, most of us know it when we see it. It may include:

• Co-workers routinely commenting about the physical attributes of other employees
• Comments made when certain individuals bend, sit or do whatever
• General chat about sexual activities, persisting over a protracted period