The #Metoo movement that started in the U.S. and spread throughout the world brought sexual harassment in the workplace into the spotlight. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination.
The law applies to private employers with 15 or more employees, as well as government and labor organizations. States also have their own sexual harassment laws, which may be stricter than Title V11 and include training employees.
Title V11 of the Civil Rights Act
Title V11 covers quid pro quo harassment and hostile work environment harassment. Quid pro quo harassment happens when a person with authority to grant or withhold employment benefits, such as getting a promotion or a raise in pay, demands sexual favors from an employee in return for the benefit.
Hostile work environment harassment happens when an employee is subject to unwelcome sexually offensive conduct that is severe enough to create a hostile work environment. To determine this involves looking at all the circumstances, including the frequency and severity of the conduct. Is it physically threatening or humiliating or is it an offensive utterance? Does it reasonably interfere with work performance?
A PA Employment Law Lawyer from the Lacy Employment Law firm can offer advice to an employee wanting to file sexual harassment lawsuit.
State laws
Due to all the allegations of sexual harassment over the past few years, many states are going beyond federal regulations to prevent workplace sexual harassment. Depending on the specific state, protection can cover the prohibition of sexual harassment in the workplace. Other states explicitly include the prohibition of sexual assault in the workplace in their employment discrimination laws.
A number of states go beyond prohibiting sexual harassment and require employers to provide sexual harassment training in the workplace. Many states are also working on legislation that prohibits the use of non-disclosure agreements in situations involving sexual misconduct in the workplace.
Employer liability
For employers with fewer than 15 employees, state law governs and employers may be liable for damages. Liability may depend on who committed the harassment and what action the company took to correct it.
If the harassment is committed by a superior and results in firing, demoting etc. the employer is held liable. If the harassment is committed by a coworker, the employer is liable if he or she knew about the harassment unless immediate corrective action was taken.
Employers may not be aware of the following.
- Both victim and harasser may be a man or a woman.
- The harasser may be the victim’s boss but he or she could also be a coworker or an agent of the employer.
- The victim could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct, not just the person being harassed.
- The conduct of the harasser must be unwelcome.
- Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without causing economic injury to the victim or getting the victim fired.
The responsibility of victims
Victims of sexual harassment also have a responsibility to try and end it. First, they should personally try to end it and if that doesn’t work, they need to consult the employee handbook to find out what policies the company has in place to make a complaint to the next level.
Documenting all actions taken and responses helps to strengthen a case. At every step, if no response is received from management, employees need to continue to escalate the complaint to the next level.
Not following company procedures and giving management a chance to stop the harassment means an employee will probably lose in court.