Sexual Harassment Law
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. It includes conduct such as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or verbal or physical harassment that is sexual in nature. Both men and women are protected from sexual harassment, and the conduct does not have to be motivated by sexual desires. Employees may even suffer sexual harassment from members of their own sex.
Sexual harassment is illegal if submitting to it or rejecting it is used as a basis for employment decisions or is made a condition of the job. It is also illegal if the conduct is so severe or occurs so frequently that the workplace becomes offensive or hostile. If you believe you are suffering sexual harassment, you should first tell the harasser to stop, and you should also report the harassment to your employer. If you have an employee manual, check it to see if it lists the proper procedure for filing a complaint with your employer. Employees who simply tolerate offensive acts in the workplace may find they do not have sexual harassment claims.
Some examples of sexual harassment are:
- Your boss or your co-workers make comments about your clothing or your body, make sexual jokes directed at you, tell false stories about your sex life, or make other sexually suggestive remarks even though you have asked them to stop.
- Your boss threatens to fire or demote you or to deny your promotion if you do not go on a date, or have sex with, him or her. And you refuse and actually are fired, demoted, or denied the promotion.
- Your boss or a co-worker repeatedly pressure you for dates or sex even after you have asked them to stop.
- Your boss or your co-workers touch you in inappropriate ways, including hugging, kissing, patting, or deliberately brushing up against you.
- Your boss or your co-workers have posters, magazines, pictures, or screensavers that are sexual in nature, or they circulate emails that are sexually suggestive.
Nichols Kaster & Anderson, PLLP has litigation experience in many types of cases, including sexual harassment. If you think you may become involved in litigation with your employer, feel free to contact us.
Trends in Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination
Unfortunately, recent studies indicate that gender and sex discrimination is on the rise in the workplace. One report indicates that gender discrimination was the reason for 10% more of the lawsuits filed against employers in 2005 than it was in 2003 (in 2003, 38% of lawsuits filed claimed gender discrimination, while 48% of lawsuits filed in 2005 were based on gender discrimination). Additional research shows that women continue to earn less money relative to men. According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), in 2004, women who worked full-time throughout the year earned only 77 cents per dollar earned by their male counterparts.
Employees should be treated fairly regardless of sex. Nichols Kaster & Anderson continues to be on the forefront of the effort to remedy past discrimination and prevent further inequities in the treatment of female employees. For more information about these issues, see the following websites:
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