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Sex harassment claims down

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A drop in sexual harassment claims in the United States may be a sign that training for managers is working.

The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission reports the number of claims peaked in 1997 at 15,889, dropping to 12,679 by 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle said.

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"The increase in sexual harassment training since 1991 has benefited both employees and employers," Wendy Bliss of the Society for Human Resource Management told the newspaper. "Employees have gained awareness of how sexual communications and behaviors on the job, even if intended as harmless fun, can be offensive to co-workers."

While the number of claims filed has gone down, the size of damage awards has gone up, giving companies another reason to prevent sexual harassment. An insurance industry group reports that the average has shot up to $1 million from $141,000 in 1994.

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