Understanding Sexual Harassment Laws by:Mark Dacanay
Sexual harassment laws are easily defined under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
It prohibits unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or any other physical or verbal behavior that is sexual in nature, regardless of submission or rejection of such conduct which affects the employment of an individual and unreasonably interferes with the individual's work performance or creates a hostile work environment.
The problem is that it is difficult to apply the definition to actual situations.
The courts may decide on similar cases inconsistently on whether sexual harassment did occur or not.
There are two types of sexual harassment claims; they are:
Quid Pro Quo
This literally means "this for that" in Latin. This refers to the more "obvious" kind of sexual harassment where a person of authority requests sex, or a sexual relationship in exchange for some form of employee benefit like security of job, promotion or a raise.
Even if the employee eventually succumbs to the requests of the harasser, it does not mean that no sexual harassment took place.
As long as the acts were proven to be "unwelcome," the court can still decide in favor of the employee.
Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment
This refers to situations where employees are exposed to pervasive unwanted sexual conduct that create an intimidating and offensive working environment where management tolerates or does not take measures to curb such behaviors.
Examples of such acts are:
Posting of pornographic materials
Consistently telling dirty jokes in the workplace
Allowing the use of suggestive remarks and derogatory terms that are sexual in nature
The US Supreme Court has held that employers may defend themselves against this type of sexual harassment suit if they can present proof that they took reasonable measures to prevent sexual harassment.
Employers may also argue that they are not liable if the employee failed to use the company's reporting and remedial measures to complain about incidents of sexual harassment.
Sexual Harassment Myths
There are a lot of myths surrounding sexual harassment as a result of lack of information. Here is a list of some myths that are completely false:
Only women can be harassed - This is not true. In fact, almost 16 percent of sexual harassment cases received by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) are from male employees.
Sexual harassment only happens between two opposite sexes - Harassment has got nothing to do with gender. The US Supreme Court recognizes the fact that sexual harassment can occur between people of the same sex.
Only people with positions of authority can be harassers - A harasser can be a co-worker, or a third party like a customer and a client of the company. The key is whether the employers are aware that the sexual harassment is occurring and if they failed to take action.
Proving a sexual harassment charge can be very complicated. Courts may decide differently in similar cases.
The best move a victim can take is to hire a sexual harassment attorney to help them in building a case and collecting evidences against the harasser.
About the author
Our expert employment attorneys specialize in sexual harassment laws. For consultation, visit our website at
http://www.attorneyservicesetc.com/ and dial our toll free number.
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