What Entails Sexual Harassment: When to Talk to an Attorney
A typical scenario that demands to call for sexual harassment attorneys is as follows: Suppose that you work at a workplace where you get comfortably along with almost everyone. However, there is one coworker who seems to set you on edge every time he sees you. Now, the situation has gotten to the point where he made an obscene comment about you at some random work event. It might not be the first time that something like this has happened, making you extremely uncomfortable.
The thing is that you like your job, but you have started getting anxious about every potential interaction with this particular co-worker. It has gotten to the point where that you have begun dreading work, but you are worried that you might lose your job in the long run. If this sounds familiar, then you should know that you are not alone. More than 80% of women have experienced some sort of sexual harassment at their workplace, with verbal sexual harassment being the most common form of it. The focus point here is when an uncomfortable and distressing situation warrants calling up a sexual harassment lawyer. Read on to get a better insight into your possible options.
photo/ Gerd Altmann
What is Sexual Harassment?
Before bringing your case to court, you need to understand what sexual harassment entails. Generally speaking, sexual harassment is linked with unwelcome sexual advances, verbal/physical conduct of sexual nature, and requests for sexual favors. However, it might also include that the acceptance or refusal of such sexual behavior could lead to the determining factor in the victim’s work/communal participation, education, employment, and living environment. Such unaccepted sexual conduct could also exhibit a condition of employment, community participation, etc. Also, the sexual behavior could impact the victim’s work performance while creating a hostile and offensive environment.
As an employee of any organization, you should know the fundamental rights that protect you from sexual harassment and sexual discrimination (including physical/ verbal harassment) under the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). More importantly, not all sort of harassment is sexual as it can also include offensive/ vulgar comments about an individual’s sex. For instance, by making an offensive/ obscene remark about the female gender in general. The harassers but also the victims can be colleagues, customers, supervisors, subordinates, and clients.
Teasing and offensive comments don’t automatically become illegal. When the words or behavior get so severe that they create a hostile or abusive (work) environment, they are categorized as sexual harassment or discrimination. Teasing and offensive comments are classified as illegal when they adversely affect the victim(s) or when these turn into an adverse outcome for the victim, such as being given the sack or getting demoted. It could also include the factor that the environment turns as hostile as to make the victim feel depressed, anxious, and generally miserable at work so that it leads to an inability to function and act naturally. If you face any of the mentioned harassment, you need to demonstrate ample evidence that the harassment is inflicting severe mental, monetary, emotional, or physical damages.
Author: Sheikh Hazaifa
