Boston Counseling and Psychotherapy

Sexual Harassment: Prevention, Facts, and Reporting Sexual Discrimination in the Workplace

August 18, 2008 – 2:19 am

Sexual Harassment

Portraits

“It was pretty cut and dry” Monica explained. “My supervisor, in no uncertain terms said that if I want to keep my job I was going to have to put out. I refused, and I was fired.”

“It seems silly for me to be reporting sexual harassment, but I’m going to do it anyway,” John said. “I work in an office of all women and half the day I am really uncomfortable. The conversations about sex and men, the names they have for me, the excessive touching; I can’t take another day of it.”

Kathy is COO of a medium sized company in Nashville, TN. “My first executive maneuver when coming onboard was to put in place a program to educate the staff about sexual harassment, and a system to report any hint of sexual harassment in the workplace. I got a few odd looks from the other managers when I did this—there had never been a problem with sexual harassment at our company. And now, perhaps there never will be.”

Definitions and Key Thoughts

Sexual harassment is a form of sexual discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Sexual harassment occurs when sexually oriented conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.[i]

Sexual harassment may resemble one or more of the following examples:

· Unwelcome sexual advances

· Requests for sexual favors

· Verbal conduct of a sexual nature

· Physical conduct of a sexual nature

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

• The target may be male or female.
• The harasser may be male or female
• The target may be the same sex or the opposite sex of the harasser.
• The harasser can be the target’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
• The target does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by offensive conduct.
• Sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to, or terminated employment, of the target.
• The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.[ii]

In many cases it is helpful for the target to directly inform the harasser that his or her conduct is unwelcome and request its immediate cessation. Conversely, the target may use any complaint mechanism or grievance system available at the place of employment. Often sexual harassment will cease after an internal complaint is filed.

According to one official US government department, The U.S. Supreme Court has simplified matters concerning sexual harassment by describing two basic types of unlawful sexual harassment in the workplace.

Type One: Quid Pro Quo

The first type of sexual harassment includes a tangible employment action. An example of this could be a supervisor who tells a subordinate that he or she must be sexually cooperative or he or she will be terminated, passed up for promotion, punished, etc., and who then an takes an action when the employee does not cooperate. This is referred to as the quid pro quo type of sexual harassment because of its “this for that” nature.[iii]

Type Two: Hostile Environment

A second type of sexual harassment is referred to as the “hostile environment” type. Unlike the quid pro quo type where a supervisor imposes an ultimatum, the hostile environment type can result from the unwelcome conduct of supervisors, co-workers, customers, or anyone else with whom a harassed employee Interacts. Behaviors that constitute hostile environment type harassment include:

• Threats to impose a sexual quid pro quo
• Discussion of sexual activities
• The telling of off-color jokes
• Unnecessary or excessive touching
• Comments on physical attributes of an employee
• The displaying of sexually suggestive pictures
• The use of inappropriate nicknames, such as “Honey,” “Doll,” or “Babe”
• Threatening or hostile physical conduct
• The use of crude, crass, and offensive language[iv]

Action Steps for Sexual Harassment

Step One: Prevention

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace.

Prevention begins with employers and managers, not employees or potential targets of sexual harassment.

Employers and managers are to clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated, and also create an open environment where sexual harassment, or even potential sexual harassment, can be reported without fear or recourse.

This can be accomplished in part by establishing complaint or grievance processes, and also by taking immediate and appropriate actions if and when employee complaints occur.

Step Two: Reporting Sexual Harassment

If one believes or suspects they have been a target of sexual harassment, it is appropriate to report the incident.

One may report the incident to the management at their place of employment, or can file a charge of sexual harassment with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

To file a charge with the EEOC:

Charges may be filed in person, by mail or by telephone. If there is not an EEOC office in within a suitable distance to visit in person, one can call EEOC toll free at 800-669-4000 (or call 800-669-6820 for the hearing impaired (TDD)) for more information on filing a charge of sexual harassment.

There are strict time limitations in which charges of sexual harassment or discrimination can be filed. To ensure the ability of EEOC to act on one’s behalf and to protect one’s right to file a private lawsuit (should one ultimately need to be filed), be sure to follow any guidelines provided by the EEOC when filing a charge.

For more detailed information, locate an EEOC office nearest to you online at: http://www.eeoc.gov.