When most people think of sexual harassment at work, they picture a man grabbing his secretary’s behind, or something to that effect. In reality, workplace sexual harassment encompasses much more than that. First, it is important to be aware that:
Both men and women can experience sexual harassment!
Women can be sexually harassed by other women!
Men can be sexually harassed by other men!
There are two types of unlawful sexual harassment that an individual may experience at work, hostile work environment and quid pro quo.
Hostile work environment sexual harassment occurs when the workplace is permeated with “discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult,” that is “sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim’s employment and create an abusive working environment.” Examples of hostile work environment include physical touching, showing or sending photos of a sexual nature, requests for sexual favors, and sexual jokes. You may have a claim for hostile work environment sexual harassment if you can answer yes to four simple questions. First, is the harassment unwelcome? Second, it the harassment of a sexual nature? Third, does the harassment make your workplace unbearable? Forth, did you follow your company’s workplace procedures for reporting the harassment, yet your employer did nothing to correct it?
Quid-pro-quo sexual harassment occurs when someone in a position of power makes sexual advances, and the individual must submit to them to get a job benefit, or if the individual refuses to submit and is demoted or fired. Examples of this would be a hiring manager asking a job applicant to send nude photos if they want to get the job. A boss asking for a sexual favor in exchange for a promotion. Or, if you reject a sexual advance, and the aggressor fires you for doing so. You may have a claim for quid-pro-quo sexual harassment if you can answer yes to the following two questions. First, were you subjected to unwanted sexual advances or sexual favors? Second, was submission to those sexual demands a condition for receiving job benefits, or did you refuse to submit and lose any job benefits.
For more answers to questions you might have about harassment, please check out the most commonly asked questions and answers on our FAQ page.