Sexual Harassment

In today's work environment, sexual harassment is dominating the atmosphere. The harasser or victim can be of any race, sex or national origin. The purpose of this report is to make individuals aware of what sexual harassment is, who is affected and the precautions to file a claim. It is necessary to inform employees of their rights and responsibilities of sexual harassment. This research was gathered from articles posted on EBSCO host and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website.

What is sexual harassment?

Unwelcome sexual advances, asking for sexual favors and other physical or verbal conduct of a sexual endeavor constitute sexual harassment. It can be executed either implicitly or explicitly, affecting an individual's employment atmosphere. Sexual harassment disrupts employees work performance or produces an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. It is a form of sex discrimination with no tolerance, violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (11).

Title VII enforces the constitutional right for the United States to provide conclusive deliverance against discrimination, institute prosecution to save constitutional rights, facilitates public education and aid in establishing an Equal Employment Opportunity.

"It shall be unlawful employment practice for any employer, labor organization, or just labor management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including on the job training programs to discriminate against any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in admission to, or employment in, any program established to provide apprenticeship or other training (11)."

One man or woman's idea of a compliment or clever observation can start grotesque controversy. Using sexist provisions, remarks about body parts, initiating sexual advances, spreading rumors about one's sexual activity or identity are all examples of sexual harassment (10). It occurs when a person of a higher power in a relationship, such as a supervisor harasses an employee. Anyone influenced by the vulgar conduct can be a victim of sexual harassment. The harasser's behavior must be unconsenting and can occur without economic injury or expelling of the victim. Sexual harassment also includes actions that are criminal in nature, such as sexual assault, stalking and rape (11).

Sexual harassment is characterized in two forms, "Quid Pro Quo" and "Hostile Environment." Creating a hostile environment is the more common of the two. Although they are labeled separately, they often occur together (5).

"Quid Pro Quo", translates into "something for something". It happens when employment decisions about discipline, hiring, promotion, termination, or transfer are made firmly on the rejection or submission of unwelcome sexual actions. The intentions must be "unwelcome" and does not have to occur on the job premises to be labeled illegal. The term "unwelcome" behavior, however it demonstrates a difficult legal interpretation (11). As a general rule, courts have established "unwelcome" actions to be illegal if "the employee did not solicit the conduct she regarded as offensive and submitted to sexual demands for fear of some form of retaliation (5)."

A "Hostile Environment" is when one is subject to abusive and demeaning treatment, which directly affects their ability to perform their job (5). Depending on the type of work being done, the sense of distraction may create safety implications (2). After the 1993 lawsuit of Harris vs. Forklift Systems, the United States Supreme Court established four factors to distinguish a "hostile environment." They are, frequency, conduct was blatantly offensive or severe, physically threatening or isolated verbally and whether it interfered with their work performance (5).

Who does it affect?

Sexual harassment occurs in various places of employment. Recent high-profile lawsuits involve public school teachers, religious organizations, military personnel, and government officials. A prime example of a claim filed against a government official would be the highly publicized suit between President Bill Clinton in 1998 by assistant Monica Lewinsky. This issue gained more attention in light of Lewinsky's acquisitions (1). Many accuse Lewinsky of false accusations, stating that her actions were to draw attention and publicity to herself, along with a healthy monetary settlement. Such incriminations were made when a suit was filed against Montel Williams for sexual harassment. Two former female employees stated they had "fallen victim to an abusive and sexually hostile working environment, wildly out of control, to which they objected and were cast aside in retaliation by Mr. Williams." The women claim the television talk show host regularly grabbed co-workers buttocks, called women derogatory names and led meetings in his underwear. Allegations like these are suitable for a sexual harassment lawsuit, creating a hostile environment for the female workers. Montel Williams believes he is being sued for financial gain. His attorney released a statement saying

"Mr. Williams is saddened and outraged by this attack on his personal integrity. It is an unfortunate but sad truth that the price one must pay for fame is having to defend one's reputation against outright lies (7)."

Those in the public eye tend to deny sexual harassment allegations, blaming the excusers of only wanting to benefit financially and gain attention. School professors however, cannot deny claims with the same intentions as celebrities. Almost two-thirds of undergraduates, both male and female allege they have been sexually harassed either physically or verbally while enrolled in college. A survey conducted stated that seventy percent of women and forty percent of men said they "would be somewhat or very upset" to be the one receiving the sexual comments, gestures, jokes, looks or touching. Thirty-one percent of women and fifty-one percent of men had tormented someone. Most of the people surveyed said they had done so because they considered it to be amusing. Findings imply that it is more common to find harassment on large campuses and more prominent at four-year institutions than two-year colleges. Some students commented that they had withdrawn from a course or switched schools because of emotional distress from harassment. One in four women who proclaim being sexually harassed claim that the incident under minded her college experience. The on-line survey revealed