Sexual Harassment

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Sexual harassment is generally legally defined as “unwelcome verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is severe or pervasive and affects working conditions or creates a hostile work environment.” The conduct in question must be “unwelcome.” If the employee has welcomed the sexual conduct in any way, that forms a strong defense for the employer. Thus, the employee would be wise to communicate in writing to the harasser and to the employer that the specific conduct is unwelcome.

The sexually harassing conduct must usually be verbal, visual, or physical in order to be actionable otherwise it becomes too hard to prove that sexual harassment actually occurred. Most importantly, the conduct must be severe or pervasive to be considered sexual harassment. A single incident of sexual harassment may be sufficient to bring a lawsuit against the perpetrator and the employer if the conduct is particularly egregious and severe, such as rape or sexual assault. To be legally actionable, the sexual harassment conduct must negatively affect the employee’s working conditions or create a hostile work environment. For example, if the employee suffers from serious emotional distress as a result of the sexual harassment and has undergone psychological therapy to treat such distress, if the employer or its managerial staff has denied the employee a promotion or raise because the employee rejected the employer’s or manager’s sexual advances, or if the harassment creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile work environment for the employee and the employee’s work performance suffers as a direct consequence, then it may be proven that the employee was indeed the victim of sexual harassment at work.

Sexual Harassment