5 Examples of Sexual Harassment in The Workplace

Описание: The federal government deems any form of harassment in the workplace unlawful. This is especially true if the behaviors are so frequent or severe that they create a hostile or offensive work environment.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.

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Sexual harassment isn’t limited to making inappropriate physical advances. It includes any unwelcome behavior that creates an uncomfortable or hostile situation, and it can be either physical or verbal. With this in mind, let’s go over some possible scenarios which would qualify as this illegal misconduct.

Sharing explicit and inappropriate sexual images or videos with co-workers is a form of harassment. Because these are usually digital, this can even occur outside of working hours.

Sending this content through a text or message outside of work still qualifies since it makes for an uncomfortable situation between colleagues. This is especially true as more companies shift to remote environments.

It doesn’t matter who’s in the image or video, either. Whether it contains the person who’s sharing the content, another co-worker, or a total stranger, it’s still inappropriate. Yes, this means that even showing an explicit image of a celebrity is off-limits.

It’s just as offensive to send suggestive messages to a colleague. This could be in through… an email… a letter or note… a text message… social media… Google Chat… or other forms of communication.

As you can see from this list, it can be a physical or digital message. Again, the form of communicating these doesn’t matter since any method would create discomfort for the recipient.

I don’t know about you, but I work in a cubicle like many other Americans. I personally don’t decorate my cubicle, but many of my coworkers put up images of their families, artwork, inspirational quotes, memes, comics…you get the idea.

Thankfully, these examples are harmless. But that isn’t to say that every company’s employees display tasteful images.

Just like it’s offensive to send this type of content to someone, it also shouldn’t be visible to people within the office. It would make anyone uncomfortable if they get greeted with these images when they visit that co-worker’s desk.

Some people don’t know what kind of jokes can qualify as harassment. Sexual humor of any kind would fall into the category of comments you shouldn’t make. This includes jokes about gender, sexual orientation, or sexual activity.

A jury could deem this lewd language unlawful. One isolated comment wouldn’t qualify as this harassment unless it was so severe. But when this language persists, especially despite complaints or warnings, then it could turn into a lawsuit.

Sexual gestures of any kind are another form of misconduct. This impacts anyone who witnesses or experiences it.

These actions can make someone feel threatened and concerned about if it would escalate into more than just a gesture. Because this creates an intimidating environment, it causes a hostile workplace.

Hopefully, these five examples have helped answer the question of what’s considered workplace harassment. Certain words and actions are illegal, especially if they persist and cause hostility.

Understanding that these scenarios create a hostile environment and can lead to lawsuits will encourage people in preventing harassment in the first place. This way, there’s more respect for each colleague and people will feel comfortable showing up to work.

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