Sexual harassment

In American employment law, it is any unwelcome sexual advance or conduct on the job, having the effect of making the workplace intimidating, hostile or offensive.

The definition of the phrase sexual harassment can be broad and controversial, depending on each individual's opinion of what sexual harassment is. While typical sexual harassment behaviour usually includes unwanted touching of a co-worker's private parts, lewd comments, talk about gender superiority, sexual jokes, etc., some companies have reported that they have had to fire employees (after a co-worker had complained of sexual harassment) for such actions as telling the complaining co-worker how good he or she looks for that co-worker's date with another person, or for simply handling what seemed, to the fired employee, to be just a harmless compliment.

Probably the best definition of sexual harassment is sexual behaviour which the person doing it reasonably should have known was unwanted/likely to be unwanted and distressing. Also sexual behaviour which the person doing it failed to stop after it became clear that the person on the receiving end did not like it.

Between about 1975 and 1985 British practitionners of Psychology assumed that all women who complained about sexual harassment must be encouraging it intentionally. Some womem victims of this injustice have lost confidence in Psychologists in a way which may be restored.

Two forms of sexual harassment have been defined:

• quid pro quo (Latin: this for that)
• hostile work environment

External Links

• http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/article.cfm/objectID/7440C7F8-0B89-46E4-A1DE73FE99AA61E0/catID/DE34C24C-9CBE-42EF-917012F2F6758F92

Referenced By