Professionalism In Workplace

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

The first lawsuit claiming discrimination because of refusal of sexual advances by a coworker was filed in 1974. Although the term was never specifically used in the case, “Barnes v. Train (1974) is commonly viewed as the first sexual harassment case in America” (Fenelius, 2010). Paulette Barnes was hired as an administrative assistant in the Equal Employment Opportunities Division of the Environmental Protection Agency at grade GS-5 with a promise of “a promotion to grade GS-7 within ninety days” (“BARNES v. COSTLE”).

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

employers need to be aware of certain legal issues. One is that an employer has the right to

The behaviours can be anywhere from verbal to physical to lewd. Lewd behavior is the unwelcome lewd gestures, demands for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical direct of a sexual sort that has a tendency to make an antagonistic or hostile workplace. Oppressive

In regards to the criteria constituting cases hostile environments as sexual harassment and sex discrimination, it is important to perceive the level of the alleged hostility in order to analyze whether or not it is a form of sexual harassment and sex discrimination. There are several elements to examine in order to determine the level of the alleged hostility within the workforce. The first element used to determine the level of hostility, as explained in Harris v. Forklifts Systems, is the severity or pervasiveness of the comments or behavior from the alleged offender. This element is essential to help determine what path the case will commence to take. The standard for this element is that in order to claim sexual harassment and/or sex discrimination,

* Based upon the scenario, does the employee have a legally viable claim for quid pro quo sexual harassment and/or hostile environment sexual harassment? What is the likely outcome?

Sexual harassment in education includes any unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior that significantly interferes with a student's access to educational opportunities.

Sexual harassment is characterized as undesirable sexual methodologies, demand for sexual favors, and verbal or physical provocation in sexual composition. (US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, 2015) There are two types of sexual harassment claims: quid pro quo and hostile work environment. Quid pro quo means “this for that”, is executed by somebody who is in a position of force or power over another. It includes communicated or inferred requests for sexual favors in return for some advantage or to maintain a strategic distance from some disservice in the work environment. (Society for Human Resource Management, 2015) Hostile work environment harassment happens when discourse or behavior is so serious and pervasive that it makes an intimidating or disparaging environment or circumstance that contrarily influences someone’s performance. This kind of badgering can be executed by anybody in the workplace, including an associate, director, subordinate, seller, client or builder. (Society for Human Resource Management, 2015) In this case, Marwan committed acts of both quid pro quo and hostile work environment harassment. Marwan has more seniority over his co-worker. Not only did he make undesired sexual advances towards her, but he also threatened to have her fired if she did not go on a date with him (Quid pro quo). Marwan also made inappropriate gestures to the female guests, and went as far as

Work place policies regarding sexual harassment is the main issue discussed in this article. Sexual harassment has continued to be a challenge within the workplace. According to a recent review of sexual harassment related resolutions, employers have paid over $732,976.00 in sexual harassment fines (Hobson, Szostek, & Fitzgerald, 2015). The EEOC has issued written guidelines for appropriate strategies employers should use to handle workplace sexual harassment and specific ways to address it. It is the employer’s duty to proactively work to protect all employees from any type of sexual harassment by following sexual harassment policies and procedures that are put in place. Failure to implement and follow the policy and procedure in the workplace can and most likely will lead to liability should an EEOC investigation or lawsuit occur. The employer needs to disperse copies of the policies and procedures and post them in central locations throughout the organization and address sexual harassment in the employee handbooks. The policy and procedures need to clear

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a huge problem in recent history. It can happen to anyone and it can happen everywhere. It can affect all types of races, gender and age. Statistics today shows that more and more sexual harassment has become an issue due to the large number of cases presented. Mainstream media becomes consume covering sexual harassment because of the high profile cases. Sexual harassment becomes a topic on various TV shows, and on some major morning radio talk shows mostly everyday. Sexual harassment laws must be strengthened in order to fix what has become a serious problem today in the workplace.

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:

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

This writer will be discussing a case where a male employee files a sexual harassment claim against the employer as the male employee identifies as being gay. He also is filing discrimination on the basis of his gender and alleges retaliation as he was terminated after he had complained about his female coworker. Apparently, the male employee alleged that a female employee while at a dinner and concert after work hours grabbed his privates. It is important to note that the male employee’s performance prior to the incident was declining and was counseled on several occasions by his employer about his declining production. Furthermore, this writer will be discussing whether if the facts could result in liability to the employer for sexual harassment or gender discrimination. Also, this writer will be integrating and referring to various sources and cases that