Free Sexual Harassment Articles | Free Sexual Harassment Legal Articles

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:08:01 GMT

Sexual harassment is legally defined as any unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior, which can include verbal; e.g., derogatory comments, tales of sexual exploits, or physical harassment; e.g., leering, inappropriate touching, asking for sexual favors, displaying derogatory posters or art, and other advances or inappropriate conduct. Sexual harassment is illegal and is a form of sex discrimination, which violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in employment settings.

Sexual harassment remains a persistent problem in the workplace. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) receives thousands of charges of sexual harassment every year. Fortunately, all employees have legal rights in the workplace, and an employer is responsible for protecting those rights, keeping the workplace free from sexual harassment, and maintaining a hostile-free workplace environment.

However, if you find yourself a victim of sexual harassment while on-the-job, there are steps you can take to bring the harassment to an end:

Be proactive. If you are being sexually harassed, don’t just shrug it off or ignore it. Take action and seek the advice of your employer so that you can resolve the issue and stop the harassment.

Let the harasser know about his or her offensive behavior. Though harassment may seem obvious to most people, there are some individuals who are unaware of how their behavior makes others feel and will actually stop once you have explained to them what they are doing. Be direct about their behavior. They may even apologize.

However, if you are nervous or afraid to confront the situation directly with the harasser, contact your boss or an HR manager to address the situation.

Keep a written record of all incidents of the harassment. In the moment(s) when you feel you are being sexually harassed, be sure to write down the date, time, and details of the harassing behavior. Be as specific as possible as to the types of comments or actions that are being directed at you. Also note if anyone witnessed the harassment.

Don’t keep the harassment bottled up—seek out help. If you are a victim of sexual harassment, it is important that you talk about it. Ask family and friends as well as your colleagues for support. Don’t allow yourself to bottle up your feelings about the situation. Taking appropriate action empowers you and stops you from feeling like a victim until the situation is resolved.

Protect yourself. If your harassment situation is beyond teasing and general offensiveness to a point where you feel in danger, take steps immediately. Alert your employer and the local authorities, and never allow yourself to be left alone with the harasser.

Finally, there are certain steps that employers can take to prevent harassment from occurring in the first place. Employers should establish, distribute to all employees, and enforce a policy prohibiting harassment and setting out a procedure for making complaints. In most cases, the policy and procedure should be in writing.

Every worker has the right to work in a harassment-free environment, and sexual harassment should never be taken lightly. If you feel you have been the victim of sexual harassment, notify your employer at once. If the harassment continues, or the harasser is in fact your boss, contact a Lead Counsel Sexual Harassment Lawyer in your area today to discuss your legal rights and the litigation options available to you.

For more information on sexual harassment, contact a sexual harassment attorney today.

How can an attorney help me with a sexual harassment claim against my employer?

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:52:43 GMT

Facing a sexual harassment situation in your workplace can be difficult, confusing, and emotionally draining. Contacting a lawyer to help you through what is often a maze of administrative agencies, laws, regulations can not only keep you in compliance with all of these rules, but also can help you present the strongest sexual harassment claim possible.

First, there are many different types of laws that can apply to your situation, and it may be difficult to figure out which laws apply to your situation. There may be a variety of local ordinances, state and federal laws which prohibit sexual harassment that apply to your circumstances. Trying to determine which laws apply and what agency to go to on your own can be difficult; a lawyer can help guide you down the appropriate path.

Next, it is essential to preserve evidence of sexual harassment in order to help prove and support your claim. A lawyer can advise you as to the types of evidence you should keep, how you should document or keep the evidence, and which types of evidence are most useful to your claim. Since only a lawyer has expertise as to what sort of evidence is most valuable, as well as what is admissible in court or administrative proceedings, then a lawyer can best help you in this area.

A lawyer can also give you an honest opinion as to whether you have a successful sexual harassment claim. What you may consider to be sexual harassment might not always result in a successful claim, for a variety of reasons. For instance, if you once had a long-term dating relationship with your supervisor, even though your company policy banned such relationships, and now your supervisor is harassing you, a jury might not be as sympathetic to your claim. Furthermore, there may be another detail, or a missing piece of evidence, that might negatively impact your claim. Perhaps you have missed an essential deadline for filing a claim. Because sexual harassment claims are so fact-specific and subject to so many rules, you need to have an attorney evaluate your claim before you decide to spend what could be a great deal of money to file a lawsuit that ultimately might not succeed.

Finally, hiring a lawyer can sometimes be threatening enough to an employer that the company may be willing to settle your complaint more quickly. After all, if you’ve hired a lawyer, it shows that you are serious about pursuing your sexual harassment claim. If this is the case, the company may offer you a satisfactory settlement, and then you won’t have to go to the time and expense of filing a lawsuit. Plus, a lawyer can help you evaluate all potential settlement offer, in terms of whether the settlement is sufficient, or whether it is not enough to satisfy your claim. Without any attorney, you may tempted to settle your claim for less than it is actually worth, or to reject a settlement offer that you shouldn’t really pass up.

Sexual Harassment: Hostile Environment Claims

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:57:37 GMT

Many people think that in order to be sexually harassed, your boss or co-worker must have physically touched you, or at least tried to do so. However, some sexual harassment claims do not involve direct sexual assaults or advances. This sort of sexual harassment occurs when the behavior of your employer or co-workers creates an environment that is so offensive that it affects your ability to work. This is commonly known as a hostile environment claim, which is prohibited by federal and state laws just like other types of sexual harassment.

A hostile environment can take on many forms. For instance, if male employees regularly and openly display pornographic pictures in the work area, you may have a hostile environment claim. Likewise, if your supervisor constantly sends sexually explicit materials to your e-mail account at work, then you may have a hostile environment claim.

If you have a hostile environment at work, the first step is to ask the persons responsible to stop the behavior. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to take your complaint to your direct supervisor. If, however, your direct supervisor is the one responsible, then you should take your complaint to another supervisor, or your human resources director. You also need to look at your employee handbook or personnel policy to make sure that you are following any procedures that your employer has about making a complaint. While it is tempting to skip these steps altogether and directly contact an attorney about filing a sexual harassment claim, the law requires you to go through these steps before taking your claim to the court system. Otherwise, your employer might not be liable for your claim, since you didn’t give them a chance to stop the behavior.

It is equally important that you document everything that happens with respect to your hostile environment claim. Write down incidents that occur in detail, including dates, times, and the names of persons who witnessed the incidents. Take pictures or keep copies of offensive messages and/or photographs displayed in your workplace. By doing this, you will have evidence that you may need later in order to prove your claim.

If complaints to your supervisor aren’t successful, your next step is to file claims with the local, state, and/or federal agency that deals with fair employment practices. Be sure to follow any deadlines or rules for filing these claims; in some cases, it is a required step before you resort to the court system for help. For instance, if you want to file a lawsuit in federal court, you must first file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) before doing so. The evaluation of your claim by this agency may also help you decide whether it is worth filing a lawsuit about your claim.

What kind of anti-harassment policies must I have in place as a small business owner?

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 03:26:18 GMT

Several discrimination laws apply to small businesses, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which deals with discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, or national origin, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which focuses on employees over the age of forty, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which addresses employees with disabilities. Additionally, all of these laws prohibit retaliation for complaining about or reporting discrimination. For example, an employer cannot fire an employee who files a claim against the employer with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (“EEOC”) for racial discrimination. As a small business owner, you should be knowledgeable about these laws and institute necessary policies in your workplace in order to comply with these laws.

Generally, harassment involves discriminatory treatment based on one of the above listed characteristics, or retaliation for complaining about discrimination. Mere teasing or joking does not rise to the level of harassment; harassment must be so continuing that it results in a hostile work environment or some change in job status, such as firing, or failing to hire, in order to constitute prohibited discrimination.

Under federal law and EEOC guidelines, it is clear that a business owner should institute a clear policy about sexual harassment, as well as other types of harassment, and provide all employees with periodic training regarding these policies and harassment in general. In fact, such policies and training are essential to being able to defend your business against harassment lawsuits. Your policy should be in writing, and should generally state that your business will tolerate harassment and/or discrimination of any kind; violations of the policy should result in punishment, just as violations of other workplaces policies result in punishment.

Furthermore, it is not enough to simply establish a policy regarding harassment in the workplace; you also must take prompt action to address any claims of harassment, and to enforce the terms of your policy. To that end, your policy should contain clear procedures for an employee to make a complaint of harassment, whether the complaint concerns another employee or a supervisor. These procedures should allow employees to make a complaint to more than one person; it is not enough for an employee to be able to complain to his or her direct supervisor, as it may be the supervisor who is causing the problem. In any case, once you receive a complaint of harassment, you should immediately investigate the complaint and take any steps necessary in order to stop the behavior about which the employee is complaining.

Business owners must also ensure that any supervisors, or employees who have authority to direct the activities of and discipline employees, are well-trained on harassment issues. If harassment by a supervisor results in some change in job status, such as the employee being fired, then your business will be legally liable for the harassment. Even if the harassment by a supervisor does not result in a change in job status, your business can be liable unless you can show that you used reasonable care to avoid and correct harassment in your workplace, and that the employee did not make you aware of the harassment.

By taking these simple steps, a small business owner cannot only easily comply with anti-harassment laws, but can also save money by avoiding costly harassment lawsuits.