Sexual harassment in the workplace can be very hard to define, as is not always obvious what qualifies as harassment and what does not. It is important to educate yourself on the facts before you unknowingly become a victim or a harasser. These ten points below will give insight into the misconceptions regarding Sexual Harassment in the workplace.
- Simply making a suggestive remark can be considered sexual harassment. Signs of harassment include suggestive remarks, testing or taunting of a sexual nature, unwelcome physical contact or sexual advances, continual use of offensive language, sexual bantering, bragging about sexual prowess, office or locker room pin-ups and compliments with sexual overtones.
- Sexual harassment does not need to occur between two people of the opposite sex- in fact, many cases involve same-sex harassment.
- Having a sexual harassment policy in place does not protect a company in lawsuits, though companies with strong, effective policies against harassment are less vulnerable to successful suits. Companies must disseminate these policies to employees and provide adequate training or be held legally accountable.
- If a victim’s patients or clients are the harassers, it still counts. A harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker or even a non-employee, such as the doctor’s patients or a sales rep’s clients.
- Sexual misconduct is not a critical element in sex harassment lawsuits. In other words, a lawsuit does not have to be based on any actual “sex” that took place.
- Sexual conduct is only illegal when it is unwelcome, meaning that the victim did not solicit or incite the conduct and the victim regarded the conduct as undesirable or offensive.
- Anything sent or located in a shared folder or bookmarked on a public computer, such as offensive Web sites, inappropriate photos or distasteful e-mails, could be considered nontraditional sex harassment or cyberstalking. In terms of U.S. law, both traditional and nontraditional harassment are illegal.
- Employees claiming sexual harassment who know about but fail to take advantage of company policies or resources designed to prevent or eliminate harassment have much weaker cases than those who do. In fact, rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court emphasize “reasonable behavior” by both employees and employers in harassment cases. For employees, this means taking advantage of company anti-harassment policies.
- Cases with male victims goes largely unreported. Less than 20% of all cases are filed by men. Researchers believe this figure vastly under-represents actual incidents in which men are victims.
- Instead of keeping a distance, a supervisor should always try to negotiate a resolution between the victim and the harasser. If supervisors can deal with a situation immediately and effectively, a costly lawsuit may be avoided.
This ten- point article is designed to help inform you on the lesser-known facts of sexual harassment. By analyzing relevant case studies, we collected these important facts to pass on to employers, trainers HR representatives and employees. With these points in mind, sexual harassment in the workplace can be identified and potentially avoided. Because every work environment is different, it is necessary to double- check your own company’s policies and protocols for dealing with harassment. In addition, educating yourself on current laws and regulations within your state will help to keep you one step ahead, as harassment laws are constantly evolving.
