Harassment in the workplace is often seen as an interpersonal issue—a conflict between two people. This perception can make it difficult for organizations to address the root cause of the problem. What happens when the harasser, rather than retaliating against their accuser, simply moves on to a new target? The answer is troubling: it allows the harassment to continue unchecked, leaving a trail of victims in its wake.
This pattern is not uncommon, and addressing it requires shifting our understanding of harassment from isolated incidents to recognizing it as part of a larger, systemic issue with a problem individual.
The Misconception of Harassment as an Interpersonal Conflict
When someone reports harassment, HR’s typical response is to treat the issue as a personal conflict between two individuals. The harasser is coached or given a warning, and the victim might receive support to move forward. But when the harasser doesn’t retaliate and instead targets a new individual, the problem is harder to see. The harassment doesn’t stop—it just shifts.
Serial harassers are often more dangerous than those who lash out in anger. They are calculated, and their behavior is subtle, which can allow them to evade consequences. This behavior goes unnoticed because, in each instance, the harassment seems to involve a different person. HR and management, if they don't recognize the pattern, might view each case in isolation, missing the bigger picture.
A Military Comparison: Serial Perpetrators in Large Organizations
A telling analogy can be drawn from military bases that experience high rates of sexual assault. Studies have shown that, contrary to the assumption that multiple people are responsible for the problem, these environments are often plagued by just a few individuals. These repeat offenders are responsible for harming many victims over time, not through retaliation but through finding new targets.
This is why it’s critical to address harassers not as one-off interpersonal incidents but as a potentially serial problem with the guilty individual. The failure to identify these patterns leaves organizations vulnerable to repeat offenses, with victims cycling through and leaving while the perpetrator remains.
Why Documenting Patterns Is Critical
A question I recently received from someone who took one of my online courses highlights this problem. Someone reported that a bully in their workplace wasn’t retaliating against the initial victim after being reported—instead, he simply moved on to the next person. HR coached him after each report, but the pattern continued.
This is where documenting patterns becomes critical. It’s easy to miss the larger issue if each new instance is seen as an isolated event. But if someone starts documenting the harasser’s behavior—recording each report, each coaching session, and the subsequent shift to a new victim—a clearer picture begins to emerge. Once the pattern is identified, it’s far easier to address it effectively and demonstrate to HR that their current interventions are not working.
HR and Leadership’s Role in Protecting Employees
HR’s role is not simply to mediate between employees in conflict. They have a responsibility to protect the entire workforce. When serial harassers are allowed to continue their behavior after each intervention, it sends a message that the organization is either unaware of or unwilling to stop the problem. Coaching without consequence is a band-aid solution for a deep-rooted issue.
Instead, HR must actively seek out patterns of behavior that indicate serial harassment. This can be achieved through documentation, as discussed earlier, but it also requires a shift in mindset. Rather than viewing each complaint as an isolated event, HR needs to understand harassment as a possible pattern of behavior that can escalate over time, harming multiple people.
The Cost of Inaction: Creating New Victims
When a serial harasser is not dealt with, the consequences extend beyond the initial victim. Every time the harasser moves on, they create new victims. The organization becomes complicit in perpetuating harm when it fails to take decisive action to stop the behavior. Over time, this creates an environment where employees feel unsafe and unsupported, leading to decreased morale, productivity, and trust in leadership.
This is why it’s critical to stop serial harassers at the source. Ignoring the pattern or addressing it too leniently only allows the cycle to continue, creating a fresh set of victims each time.
Conclusion
Serial harassment in the workplace is not an issue of individual conflict—it is a repeating problem that requires the proactive intervention of removing the person once it's clear - they serially harass people. Harassers who move from one victim to the next are extremely damaging to your organization. Organizations must stop treating each report as an isolated incident and instead focus on identifying patterns of behavior that reveal a deeper issue.
By documenting harassment, recognizing the larger pattern, and holding harassers accountable, HR and leadership can protect their workforce and prevent new victims from emerging. Harassment is a pattern, not a series of unrelated events—and organizations must start treating it as such to ensure a safer, healthier work environment for all.
Learn More:
I have many online courses that cover how to identify and stop bullying and harassment in the workplace, for individuals and for young people. Learn how to stop unwanted behavior and how to identify patterns of behavior so that you can stop what is happening once and for all.
https://humanistlearning.com/category/bullyingharassment/
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