Hrm/531 Week 1

“Sexual harassment is defined as any unwanted action or activity of a sexual nature that explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, performance, or work environment” (Robbins, Decenzo & Coulter, 2011). According to the EEOC, “Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other

In corporate America, sexual harassment is a huge concern amongst many organizations. The matter of sexual harassment is an issue that needs to be immediately attended to in

Sexual harassment was made illegal in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This article “protects individuals against employment discrimination on the bases of race and color, as well as national origin, sex, and religion” (“Title VII”). Although the bill was originally passed to combat the “growing unrest in the country emanating from the pervasive and egregious racial discrimination and segregation exposed during the civil rights protests in the 1960s,” it has since grown to encompass all areas of discrimination in the field of employment (“Pre 1965”). The same act also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce

Harassment, specifically sexual harassment, is one of those challenges faced by businesses and employers as of a result of workplace diversification. Inappropriate conversations, unwanted advances and uncomfortable physical contact are some of the ways sexual harassment can occur. According to Hellriegel and Slocum, “Sexual harassment refers to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.” (p.52). To be clear, sexual harassment can, and has, affected both women and men over the years however up to half of all working women have reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment in the career (Vijayasiri, 2008, p.1). It wasn’t until 1986 though that the Supreme Court recognized sexual harassment as a violation of Title VII in the case of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (O’Brien, 1994, p. 1). Before the high court’s ruling, however, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had begun to address the issue by drafting hostile work environment guidelines that included sexual harassment (O’Brien, 1994, p. 4). These guidelines would serve later to guide the high court’s decision. There are many more cases like this one we could look at. In 1991, sexual harassment became a household term as Anita Hill testified before congress stating she was sexually

Sexual harassment is a demeaning practice, one that constitutes a profound affront to the dignity of the employees forced to endure it.  By requiring an employee to contend with unwelcome sexual actions or explicit sexual demands, sexual harassment in the workplace attacks the dignity and self-respect of the victim both as an employee and as a human being. Sexual harassment is well defined as an unwelcome sexual request for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. In many countries, sexual harassment is considered a form of sexual abuse and employment discrimination. Sexual harassment is most prevalent is organizations both professional and academic, though it can occur almost anywhere.

Laws against discrimination- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that no person employed or seeking employment by a business with more than 15 employees may be discriminated against due to their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (Lee, 1998). This Act

Sexual harassment is discrimination that involves any uninvited comments, exploits, or behavior regarding sex, gender, or sexual orientation. If any type of violation is made by a co-worker, a boss, a work acquaintance, or even a non-employee such as a client, vendor, or contractor, this will be considered unlawful sexual harassment within the work environment. Sexual harassment can create a hostile and uneasy work environment. Sexual harassment includes inappropriate verbal advances, unwelcomed physical behavior that creates an aggressive, hostile, intimidating or malicious work environment for employees. Sexual harassment includes sending suggestive e-mails, notes, and

Sexual Harassment will not be tolerated within this department. If any employee or supervisor commits sexual harassment toward any employee or staff member, they will be a fine of $1,500 and a suspension of two weeks. If the sexual harassment happens again, you pay of fine of $10,000 and terminated. Sexual Harassment is very serious and it affects people's’ lives greatly. All employees must follow these guidelines and revise the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual harassment (42 USC 2000e et

In order for sexual harassment to exist, there are six specific requirements that must be met. The employee that is alleging the sexual harassment must be in a protected class. The complaint must be gender related. This meaning that, for example, if the victim had not been a woman, the harassment would not have happened. The employee must not have consented to the advances or participated in the hostile work environment. The harassment must be based on sex. Sex, meaning that the advances or requests involved a sexual favor or a sexual act. The complaint must be such that it significantly affected the employee’s job performance. Lastly, the harassment must have occurred in a work related environment, making the employer liable for such

In accordance with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) situations that sexual harassment might occur can be verbal and/or physical in manner such as:

A third issue in the discrimination of women in the workplace is sexual harassment. Sexual Harassment is described as a form of gender discrimination that is in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Even though it is a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 there is still sexual harassment in the workplace today. The majority of sexual harassment complaints in the work place come from woman.

In our society sexual harassment has been in the workplace for years. The use of sexual harassment in the workplace has been remembered best as a weapon used to keep women in their place which would cause them to forfeit promotions within their organizations. It was once believed that women were the only victims but the shift is now changing men are also reporting that they are also victims of sexual harassment on the job. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed and employers began to recognize that they were liable for two types of sexual harassment. The first kind of harassment is Quid pro quo when a supervisor offers the employee sexual advances in order to get or keep a job, and also this harassment is used to determined if an

Organizations have an obligation to create a harassment free environment for its employees. Harassment doesn’t have to be of a sexual nature. An organization is liable if the harassment is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in adverse employment actions such as the victim being fired, demoted, or transferred. Harassing a person based on their sex is illegal. Sexual harassment has a great impact on an employee’s productivity as well as poses a major impact on an organization’s finances in litigation.

There are federal laws put in position to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Most employees sometimes don’t even realize what sexual harassment is are when they are committing this violation. On the flip side an employee may not realized when they are being sexually harassed and when is the appropriate time to speak up. Education on sexual harassment has increased within the workplace as cases are more public and fines are getting steeper.

gender and does not “Involve sex, requests for sexual activity, comments, or anything similar” (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2015, p. 423). The non-sex requirement is the reason that the term gender in sexual harassment is discussed meaning whether if the individual is male or female that is filing a sexual harassment claim. Although, Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 mentions that individuals should not be discriminated on the basis of gender, sex, ethnicity, race, religion, etc it does not specify an individual’s sexual orientation.