Many employers wonder why they should undergo the time and expense of establishing, enforcing, and training their supervisors on anti-harassment policies and reporting procedures. The simple, self-interested reason (disregarding for a moment the positive social and ethical attributes) is to prevent the harassment and avoid liability.

All employers with fifteen or more employees are subject to the federal anti-harassment statutes, which means they are liable if a supervisor engages in unlawful harassment based on race, color, sex (whether or not of a sexual nature), religion, national origin, protected activity, age, or disability and that action results in a "tangible employment action", such as hiring and firing, promotion and failure to promote, demotion, undesirable reassignment, a decision causing a significant change in benefits, compensation decisions, and work assignment.

It is important for employers to train their supervisors because an untrained supervisor is more likely to engage in unlawful harassment thereby creating employer liability. If an inadequately trained supervisor discriminates against an employment candidate or an employee because of race, color, gender, or any other protected category and the action results in a tangible employment action, the employer will be liable regardless of whether the injured person complained to higher management and regardless of whether higher management had any knowledge of the supervisor's motivation. To avoid liability, the company must be proactive, by implementing and enforcing anti-harassment policies and complaint procedures and properly training its supervisors so that improper employment activities do not occur.