Sexual Harassment - EEOC

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

• The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
• The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
• The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
• Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
• The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome. More....

Government Fact Sheet for sexual harassment questions & explains:

When Does an Environment Become Sexually Hostile?

To determine whether behavior is severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile environment, the finder of fact (a court or jury) considers these factors:

• Whether the conduct was physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere offensive utterance.
• Whether the conduct unreasonably interfered with work performance.
• The effect on the employee’s psychological well-being.
• Whether the harasser was a superior in the organization.
• The frequency of the unwelcome discriminatory conduct.
• The severity of the conduct.

When many people hear the words "sexual harassment," they picture a male supervisor cornering a female employee to make unwanted sexual advances. But sexual harassment goes far beyond that. Anyone can find themselves a victim of sexual harassment. Someone might even find your behavior to be sexually harassing, even though you may not think that you have done anything wrong. Sexual Harassment Prevention Training programs include information on what constitutes sexual harassment, behaviors to avoid, recognizing and preventing sexual harassment, a company's legal responsibility regarding sexual harassment, interviewing alleged harassers and potential witnesses and more.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE: A PRIMER

by

BARRY S. ROBERTS

RICHARD A. MANN

On-the-job sexual harassment is not a recent problem, although legal liability for it is. Despite widespread publicity about the perils of sexual harassment, surveys demonstrate that many businesses operating in the United States have yet to address the problem. Moreover, recent news reports indicate that sexual harassment has reached the highest levels of management.6 Although businesses know it exists, they appear unsure of what to do about it. As a result, the specter of employer liability for sexual harassment continues to loom over the workplace.

Sexual Harassment: Myths and Realities

MYTH: Sexual harassment is rare.

FACT:Sexual harassment is extremely widespread. It touches the lives of 40 to 60 percent of working women, and similar proportions of female students in colleges and universities.