By Andy Costello
Mission Viejo, Saddleback Valley Elks officers, and committee chair people, joined with key members from the seven other Lodges that make up the Orange Coast District, for a seminar on the subject of sexual harassment.
Elks, though not employees, are “members” of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. As such, they are bound individually and collectively by the statutes and bylaws of the Order regarding sexual harassment and also by the State and Federal laws concerning the subject. In most Elks Lodges, the only paid workers are a few non-Elk employees responsible for the operation of the office and the social lounge. The California and Hawaii Elks Association, as well as the Orange Coast District’s leadership, felt it be of extreme importance that all Lodge management be knowledgeable and in compliance with the laws regarding sexual harassment as those laws apply to both Lodge employees and members. The seminar on the subject was scheduled and held at the direction of those leaders of the Order.
Sixteen members from the Mission Viejo Lodge’s management team attended the accredited course held at the Huntington Beach Elks Lodge. The course was presented by Jeanie Talbot, PHR, PHRca, SHRM-CP, a Principal Consultant of Talbot HR Solutions, a human resource consulting firm that, since 2005, has provided employment-related management training, systems analysis, and organizational development services to corporations and non-profit organizations. For more than 20 years, Jeanie Talbot has been engaged in assisting individuals and companies in resolving a variety of human resource-related challenges. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources, is a current member of the Society for Human Resource Management, the world’s largest professional association devoted to human resource management. Celebrating 14 years at California State University Dominguez Hills, Talbot teaches Basic and Advanced Human Resource Management.
The seminar was met with great enthusiasm by the eighty-five attending Elks of the Orange Coast District and there was a vigorous exchange of questions, and answers, as well as discussions throughout the session. A written quiz was conducted and graded at the end of the day. All left with notebooks full of valuable information and a renewed resolve to keep themselves and their Lodges on the right side of the law on a subject of Sexual Harassment that is becoming a bigger issue in our nation today.
The Mission Viejo / Saddleback Elks Lodge No. 2444, celebrating forty-nine (49) years of service to the Saddleback Valley communities, is one of eight lodges in the Orange Coast District of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) whose headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois. The BPOE is a charitable organization with a 150-year history of giving, “Elks Care, Elks Share.”
Ms. Jeanie Talbot
Andy Costello
Grand Lodge Area 7 Public Relations
& Marketing Committee
Photo Credit: Elks Lodge
