Under which condition can company officers be held liable?

Company officers can be held liable under the condition that they knew or should have known harassment was occurring. This principle is rooted in the expectations of leadership roles, which require officers to be attentive to workplace dynamics and the behavior of their subordinates. When an officer has knowledge of harassment, or if a reasonable person in their position would have been aware of such behavior, they are expected to take appropriate action.

This emphasizes the duty of care that company officers have to foster a safe and respectful working environment. If they fail to act on known or reasonably observable incidents, they could be viewed as condoning the behavior, thereby exposing both themselves and the organization to legal consequences.

The other conditions outlined, while serious, do not establish liability in the same way. For instance, merely ignoring complaints or being uninvolved without knowledge does not directly implicate an officer's responsibility under harassment laws, unless it can be shown that they were aware or should have been aware of the issues at hand. Thus, the emphasis is on awareness and the proactive obligation to mitigate harassment.