Sexual Harassment: Important Answers to Your Questions
Posted: Tuesday, March 24, 2009
by Elizabeth L. Riles
Bohbot & Riles, LLP
Sexual harassment is a form of illegal sex discrimination according to both federal and California law. Sexual harassment takes different forms. Most people re ali ze that if an employer, supervisor, or co-worker touches a female employee's breasts, this is sexual harassment; but there is much more to it.
What is Sexual Harassment?
- Propositioning for dates or sex
- Telling inappropriate sexual jokes or making inappropriate sexual remarks
- Bringing into the workplace pornographic pictures, materials, or images
- Touching inappropriately including, in some cases, hugging, kissing, rubbing against someone, caressing one's shoulders or back, or other unwanted physical contact
- Requiring employees to wear certain suggestive clothing
- Gawking or leering
- Making inappropriate comments about an employee's appearance
- Making statements that women are inferior to men (or vice-versa)
- Attempting to use one's position as a supervisor to obtain an employee's acceptance of sexually inappropriate behavior or an employee's romantic affections
Al though it is usually men who sexually harass women, sexual harassment can also include women harassing men, men harassing men, or women harassing women. The perpetrator may be a heterosexual or a homosexual. In the end, sexual harassment occurs whenever someone is subjected to sexually inappropriate behavior because of one's gender.
What should I do?
If you've experienced sexual harassment on the job, you have a responsibility to inform your employer of it ( i.e., complain). Doing so is important because, under the law, if employers do not know about the harassment, then they can't take appropriate and immediate steps to remedy the situation. If they haven't been given that chance, they may not face liability for the conduct even if it is proved that it occurred.
What if my employer retaliates against me?
An employee has an absolute right to complain about harassment without fear of ret ali ation by his or her employer. Even if it is found that the conduct did not rise to the level of "harassment," an employer cannot ret ali ate against an employee for having brought the complaint. Ret ali ation may include a termination close in time to the complaint, denial of promotions, pay raises, work assignments or leaves of absence, heightened scrutiny of performance, or other similar detrimental action.
What if the sexual harassment continues?
Before you can sue, you have to file a complaint with either the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the C ali fornia Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). Both agencies are charged with investigating such complaints. This is designed to give the employer time to remedy its conduct prior to being sued.
Do I need a lawyer?
If you believe you have taken all the necessary steps and are still unsatisfied with the result, you may need to se ek legal counsel about the feasibility of filing a lawsuit. Both Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the C ali fornia Fair Employment and Housing Act give employees a right to sue an employer for violations of their rights and permit recovery of past lost wages and benefits, future wage loss, emotional distress damages, attorney fees and possibly punitive damages, if a violation has been found.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Good points Elizabeth. I experienced it from one of my employers. Before the day was over he was fired.Deborah
Abuses do abound and legal remedies are indeed,in place, but,statistics reveal that sadly,frivolous law suits do torture calendars of the courts and trouble the minds of personnel in workplaces,but even delusional women may be harassed and genuinely need protection under the law.
In Truck Driver Training women are being targeted for recruitment without warning them that misconduct is rampant. Learning to drive a truck requires living with an unknown individual and some companies require at least 6 months of team driving to get enough experience to drive solo. In this timeframe many women have been not only harassed but beat up, and even raped. Being thrown out of the truck in isolated areas is very common. The trucking companies have known it is a problem for many years but have never addressed the issue yet they seek to hire women in greater numbers. I my situation, I found the HR Department to be a greater detriment. I was also told as are many other Women in this situtation the there is no statute of limitations for reporting sexual harassment. Is this true? I found one site that says you have a little over 300 days to report. In the trucking industry they always make you think they are investigating but actulally they are doing nothing. Meanwhile the time is whittleing away, when you begin to see many other women reporting almost the same story verbatim and often with the same perpetraors it becomes overwhelming. At this point if you report you are portrayed as being a golddigger for a frivilous lawsuit.We really need more clarification for this industry because the very unique living situation that is required to learn. It seems to attract control freaks and predators who become truck driver trainers.I have been writing about this on the internet for about 2 years and the level of cover up on this topic by the industry and organizations is enormous.I'd love to have some good advice for the legal community to pass along to women truckers and those aspiring to be truckers to have good sound advice. It also happens to men but they are even less likely to report than the womenIt does appear to me that there are issues with this industry and how it handles sexual harassment. I would be happy to discuss it further with you. Please feel free to contact me at the phone number on my website.
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