According to the EEOC (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) Sexual Harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII is a federal law that applies to employers with 15 or more employees. Victims have 180 days to file a complaint with the EEOC. However individual state laws vary; many having no minimum employee requirements and some extending the time for victims to file a complaint. It is wise for all companies to abide by these rules because protecting the people who work for you is the morally correct thing and people work better when they aren’t having to routinely evade harassers.

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

• The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
• The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee. The harasser does not have to have seniority over the victim for it to be termed harassment.
• The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct. For example, a lewd poster in an office cubicle could constitute sexual harassment.
• Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
• The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.

It is helpful for the victim to inform the harasser directly that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. However this is not required and it should be remembered that many staff (especially lower paid staff eg direct care givers) who may be vulnerable to harassment might also be fearful of repercussions should they complain and therefore not be comfortable taking this step.

The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available.

Keeping records of all relevant facts, actions and related material subsequent to complaints being made is critical.

Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They can do so by providing sexual harassment training to their employees and by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.
It is also unlawful to retaliate against an individual for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on sex or for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation under Title VII.