{"id":78380,"date":"2025-02-09T19:02:58","date_gmt":"2025-02-09T19:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/gender-discrimination-and-sexual-harassment-and-the-all-volunteer-history-organization-aaslh\/"},"modified":"2025-02-09T19:02:58","modified_gmt":"2025-02-09T19:02:58","slug":"gender-discrimination-and-sexual-harassment-and-the-all-volunteer-history-organization-aaslh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=78380","title":{"rendered":"Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment and the All-Volunteer History Organization \u2013 AASLH"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Editor\u2019s Note: This is the second post in a series of posts written by members of the AASLH Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Task Force. You can read the previous post in the series: Small Museums and Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment<\/a> by Joan Baldwin<\/em><\/p>\n

By Anne W.\u00a0 Ackerson\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Volunteers are integral to the work of nonprofit history organizations, from the board room to the docent. The all-volunteer organization occupies a special place in the nonprofit heritage universe, in part because so many history organizations start out as all-volunteer historical societies and museums. Often characterized as scrappy, high energy, or close-knit, the all-volunteer organization is driven by an outsized passion that sometimes obscures the realities of its management within accepted legal and ethical parameters.<\/p>\n

Just because an organization relies solely on volunteers does not exempt it from human resource liabilities impacting volunteers that can have serious legal implications, such as gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Know, too, that volunteers may find themselves the targets of gender discrimination and\/or sexual harassment from donors, members, vendors, and visitors. \u201cBecause volunteers in most situations will not be considered employees, the risk of liability for an employment law claim by a volunteer is low. However, the potential for personal injury and other claims still exists, and the reputational harm to an organization from lawsuits is potentially very high.\u201d <\/em>(Ronald W. Taylor and Thomas H. Strong, \u201cVolunteering for Trouble or Trouble with Volunteers?: A Guide to the Liability Risks for Nonprofits and their Volunteers,\u201d<\/a> Venable LLP, November 10, 2011. (Accessed January 8, 2025))<\/p>\n

Here are some ways your all-volunteer organization can mitigate some of these risks:<\/p>\n