Employees Guide to Workplace Sexual Harassment

Legal Protections

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Unlawful Conduct Examples

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How to Protect Yourself

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What Constitutes Workplace Sexual Harassment?

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The HARD TRUTH About Your Legal Protections
& Your Rights Under the Employment Laws

The HARD TRUTH is that sexual harassment in the workplace is all too common.

A number of Federal and state employment laws afford workers protections in the workplace, prohibiting conduct considered unwelcome or harassing.

These laws often don't prevent employees from being victimized, but rather provide a means of accountability after the law has been violated.

These laws provide accountability in the workplace.

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The EEOC is responsible for enforcing workplace sexual harassment laws.

In this capacity, it files lawsuits and criminal charges against violators and provides educational resources and guidance to help those who have been harassed.

The laws that govern this type of harassment are broad. Let’s look at some examples of the kinds of behaviors that are considered violations.


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The following guide for employees facing sexual harassment in the workplace will make clear what legal protections exist for workers.

You will also learn what conduct is considered illegal, and detail how you can protect yourself.

Always seek the help of an employment attorney who can help apply the applicable labor laws to the fact patterns of your situation..

 

These Labor Laws Prohibit Sexual Harassment

These regulations provide the blanket protections afforded workers, and provide a path to hold employers and those responsible accountability when broken.


  • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [1]
  • The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Regulations & Guidelines [2]
  • Various State Regulations Depending on Jurisdiction

 

Further reading
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What Behaviors Violate the Law?
(Examples)

What follows are just some of the behaviors that are considered to be violations. They are some of the most common violations and may give you some insight into whether any behavior you’ve experienced qualified.


  • Unwelcome sexual advances (including requests for dates)
  • Unwanted touching
  • Lewd communication in conversations, emails, or letters
  • Unwanted personal questions of a sexual nature

Many other types of harassment exist, from outright sexual assault to lewd glances that include neither touching nor verbal cues. If you have questions about violating behavior, refer to your workplace guidelines or the laws that were referenced near the top.

A lawyer will be able to tell you more in a consultation. However, you can’t pursue a lawsuit until you’ve gone through some of the steps detailed in the next section.

Let’s look at each of these violations in a little more detail.

Unlawful Conduct

Unwelcome Sexual Advances

Unwanted sexual advances include any requests for sexual favor, including nonverbal gestures that imply a sexual proposition. Even requests that aren’t distinctly sexual, such as repeated requests for dates following a refusal, are considered to be unwanted advances.

Unwanted Touching

Unwanted touching includes any kind of undesired physical contact, including touching, rubbing, kissing, and hugs. Any other touching that is not wanted and makes you uncomfortable may also fit into this definition.

Lewd Communication

Lewd communication is considered to be any uncomfortable communication that occurs in conversations, emails, or letters. Jokes, personal stories, and other types of non-serious presentations are not considered exempt from this definition.

Unwanted Personal Questions of a Sexual Nature

Unwanted personal questions of a sexual nature are considered a form of workplace harassment even when they are not deliberately lewd. It can be regarded as harassment to expose someone to personal questions they don’t want to answer.

Take Away:   The fact patterns of sexual harassment and the yearly claims data reported by the EEOC reveal the troubling conduct harassed victims are exposed in the workplace.

How to protect yourself from workplace sexual harassment

Your workplace guidelines should define prohibited behaviors, as well as consequences for those who engage in them. However, these guidelines are no guarantee that sexual harassment will not happen. If it does happen, you need to be prepared.

The best way to be prepared is to understand:


  • How to respond to sexual harassment
  • How to report sexual harassment
  • Practices to follow to win your case
  • When it’s time to contact a lawyer

How to respond to sexual harassment
"Fighting for accountability in the workplace is an important step in fighting unlawful behavior..."

If you experience sexual harassment, the first thing you should do is record any evidence of the violation and firmly ask the violator to stop.

Colleagues may not realize that they have crossed the line in all cases. While this doesn’t excuse bad behavior, it’s still essential that you document confronting the behavior.

If the behavior continues, you should take the issue, along with any evidence, to your immediate supervisors. Check the employee handbook to determine the next steps to take an official complaint. In most cases, the next step will be speaking to human resources.

WARNING:   Human resource department presumably exist to protect employees, but their first priority is to protect the company. Provide them with copies of any evidence you have collected, but preserve the originals for your own use.

If it appears that your workplace is not processing your complaint in a timely manner, you can take the next step in filing a complaint.

 


How to report sexual harassment
"Every worker has the right to expect a safe workplace free from harassing behavior..."

Before you can file a lawsuit, you need to file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

This must be done within 45 days of the most recent incident.


  • Start by contacting an EEO counselor. You will receive an appointment to speak to a counselor about your rights during an interview. [3]
  • File a formal complaint when your counselor clears it. You have a 15-day deadline to file the complaint after you’ve been given clearance. [4]
  • Wait for the outcome of the investigation.

If the investigation confirms your claims, the EEOC may help to settle the complaint on your behalf. If it does not, you may file your own lawsuit.

Representation with a workplace sexual harassment attorney can help guide you through this process and help file your eeoc complaint and is highly recommended.

Is It Time to Contact a Lawyer?

If you have completed the EEOC process and haven’t been able to get the justice you deserve, you may contact a lawyer and begin working on a lawsuit against your place of employment.

Make sure that you preserve all evidence that has been involved what you were subjected to.

Choose a lawyer who has experience dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace. We understand these cases can be complicated and intense for victims.

Reporting the behavior can result in retaliation, gaslighting, and pressure from your employer and fellow workers to drop the issue.

Holding those responsible accountable is often an important step to help victims of harassment move forward and on with their lives.

An experienced employment lawyer will understand these challenges and can help see you get the help you need to fight back.

 

 

 

References

 

 

 

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