It is important that every workplace should be free from sexual harassment or discrimination of any type. All workplaces are required by law to ensure that each and every employee is free from these concerns. However, these cases do happen, and often.
Sexual harassment comes in many forms, and is not limited to just sexual acts. For this reason, it is important to recognize what qualifies as sexual harassment. These are the most common forms of sexual harassment:
- Implications that an employee must sleep with or preform sexual favors in order to keep his or her job or receive promotions.
- Unwelcome sexual advances made by supervisors or co-workers.
- Requests made by others for dates or sexual favors.
- Demeaning comments, especially when they are in regards to a person’s body.
- Unwelcome physical or verbal conduct, of a sexual manner.
- Sexually explicit content or materials, which are often sent via email, posted on bulletin boards, or verbally shared.
Sexual harassment can happen to anybody. Whether it’s a supervisor, manager, co-worker, and even non-employees like customers and vendors. Even though the majority of sexual harassment claims consists of women filing claims that men sexually harassed them, these cases can be gender-neutral as well.
If you feel that you are experiencing sexual harassment in your workplace, it is important to refer to your company’s sexual harassment policy and address the issue as soon as possible.
The employment attorneys at Maduff & Maduff specialize in sexual harassment, discrimination, and other workplace issues. Contact us if you feel that your claim has not been handled appropriately, or if you have any questions in regards to your workplace or sexual harassment issue.