04/13/2008 (1:07 am)

WATCH YOUR MOUTH

Women found sexually explicit comments were nearly twice as frequent in the workplace last year as the year before, according to a recent survey.

The telephone survey of 546 employees was conducted by International Communications Research for Novations Group, a consulting company based in Boston. It found that 42 percent said they had endured sexually inappropriate comments in 2007, up from 34 percent in 2006.

The largest increase was among women, 39 percent of whom reported the most common type of harassment up from 22 percent the year before.
"People on the receiving end of hostile comments are more vocal about their displeasure than they have been in the past," said Mike Hyster, president of Novations Group. "I believe thats a direct reflection of the fact that the number of paid legal settlements has doubled in the last five years."

Reports of racial slurs inched up to 35 percent of those surveyed, from 33 percent in 2006.

The survey also found that employees ages 18 to 34 were more than twice as likely to overhear ridicule regarding their age than their colleagues over 55.