5 Forms of Sexual Harassment You Didn’t Know About

1.  Desire does not have to be what fuels the fire

Did you know that not all forms of sexual harassment are motivated by a person’s sexual attraction to another?  Under particular legislation in California, a person who is making sexual advances towards an employee does not have to be motivated by sexual interest. Wait for what?  You mean a supervisor, manager, boss, or even fellow co-worker can impose sexual behavior on an employee without it being sexually motivated, and it will still be considered sexual harassment?  Yup, there is a chance that a sexual harassment lawyer would be able to build a case on this type of scenario.

Because the law recognizes many types of behavior that is sexual in nature, there are indeed particular forms of it that while are sexual, the harasser has no real interest in the victim.  So what does this look like?  Well, for example, a manager at the office may share intimate details about his current dating life with an employee.  Perhaps this manager told the employee his techniques in the bedroom and even shared a picture on his phone of his partner completely naked.  Here, in this example, it could be inferred that while the manager is not romantically or physically interested in the employee, he or she is still potentially sexually harassing the employee.  The law acknowledges that images and particular topics shared in the workplace that are of a sexual nature may make an employee feel uncomfortable and subjected to unwelcome behavior.  Furthermore, in this specific example, the harasser is a manager, a person in a position of power over the employee, so the employee may feel pressured not to opt out of the situation.

Erotic conduct can arise in a variety of situations, yet the behavior does not need to be inspired by a romantic or sexual interest in the person who is being subjected to the behavior. An essential way of measuring if you are a victim of this kind of aggravation is to listen to your gut and intuition: do you feel uncomfortable?  In acknowledging that feeling, you have made the first step in investigating whether you have been sexually harassed.

2.  Trade-offs are a form of sexual harassment

Even just saying “hey, I will give you a better shift if you go have a drink with me after work” is a form of sexual harassment.  The legal term for this type of conduct is “quid pro quo” which means “this for that”.  In that example, it would be considered a form of explicit quid pro quo because the harasser expressed the terms of the trade-off. Unexpectedly, however, the law also recognizes implied forms of quid pro quo.  The example below would illustrate implied quid pro quo:

Joyce was a full-time employee at a warehouse for an online store.  Upon her hire, she became aware of her supervisor’s inappropriate tendencies.  These tendencies included lewd jokes and unwelcome physical contact such as hugging.  Each time Joyce took an opportunity to dismiss her supervisor’s flirtation and vulgar humor he would in return make her work situation more difficult.  Recently he even switched her to the late night shift, knowing she has two kids at home to care for.

Here, Joyce may infer based on her supervisor’s behavior, that if she doesn’t reciprocate his advances, she will continue to be punished at work.

3.  You once had a relationship with the harasser

Just because you had a previous romantic relationship with the harasser does not necessarily mean he or she cannot become a current sexual harasser. Once a relationship in the office has been terminated yet one of the parties continues to behave sexually towards the unwilling party, there may still be a claim for sexual harassment.  This especially applies when the disgruntled party is in a superior position and abuses their position to inflict adverse treatment on the employee based on resentment towards the breakdown of the relationship.

4.  Be a Man…or Woman

Stereotyping an employee based on their sex is a creature of sexual harassment.  Being a target of sexual pestering varies and an uncommonly known form is when it is used as a tool for discrimination. Singling a person or group of people out at the workplace based on their sex is sexual harassment.

An employee could potentially bring their work-related issue to a legal professional if he or she can demonstrate a repetition of disadvantageous treatment towards other employees of the same sex as the particular employee, all because of his or her sex.  For example, a male employee may be able to prove that he and the other male employees at the office are being treated negatively based on being male and that they are being treated differently in comparison to the female employees.  This comparison may be a foundation for evidence demonstrating the distinction of treatment between male and female employees based on sex. Depending on the facts, this type of situation can be construed as sex-based discrimination.

The discriminatory conduct does not even have to be erotic, vulgar, or even derived from sexual attraction.  It has to be adverse treatment delivered to a person or a particular group, because of their sex.

5.  Being the same sex as the victim is not a defense

As previously mentioned above, the law does recognize sexual harassment based on a person’s sex.  Taking it a step further it is also possible for an employee to be sexually harassed based on their sex by a person who is of the same sex.  This type of sexual pestering may be seen in work situations where the victim-employee is being bullied by a manager or other employee based on his or her sex.  A victim-employee may experience teasing, hazing, or even threats that are of a sexual nature.  Depending on the specific facts of the scenario, it is likely that bullying based on an employee’s sex would likely build a sexual harassment claim against the employer.  An employee, after all, has the right to feel safe at work and free from harassment.