Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment in a workplace or professional setting is known as making of an unwanted sexual past or obscene remarks. Harassment normally occur to women in the workplace. Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964 (U.S EEOC, 2017). There has been many lawsuits or court cases regarding sexual harassment in workplaces today. Some cases are hard to analyze because of the different type of harassment situations.
EEOC Wins Jury in Sexual Harassment Case against Costco In this article, it discusses a case about a company out of Glenview, Illinois called Costco Wholesale, Inc. There was a Costco employee that was being sexual harassed and stalked by a Costco customer on different occasions. The employee reported to her management about the customer’s unruly behavior but there was not any actions taking place. She was forced to get a restraining order against the customer (EEOC, 2016). After the former employee of Costco reported the incident that was taking place with the customer, they should have took proper actions in regards of their employee. According to EEOC because Costco did not follow the Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, it made the workplace a hostile environment for the employee. The Title VII of the
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There are many ways and signs to recognize harassment. One of the major signs are if someone touches inappropriately. Quid Pro Quo sexual harassment is also common in a workplace. Quid Pro Quo is when a supervisor try to use their position to get the employee to do something they do not want to do (Walsh, 2015). It is important to report the first sign of harassment in a workplace. The Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964 was designed to protect employees against acts of harassment and
Supreme Court case Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson of 1986, and Harris v. Forklift Systems of 1993 are examples of a more recent judicial action that has helped shape the contemporary sexual harassment practice (Siegel, 2004). These mentioned two sexual harassment cases linked the unwanted sexual harassment to affecting the employee’s performance and work environment. Furthermore, no substantial victim mental distress is required to receive jury award (Robbins, Decenzo & Coulter,
Sexual harassment is always a legal topic in the work environment because the ramifications are so severe, but at the same time very abstract to describe what can constitute sexual harassment. This paper will take into consideration different elements of the law including Employment Law and cases tried before the U.S. Supreme Court. It will also offer suggestions for corrective action pertaining to the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace.
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
It is somewhat surprising that employers continue to violate employment laws dealing with discrimination. One case, Catterson v. Marymount Manhattan College, litigated and settled in 2013, was especially egregious. According to the EEOC (2013), the college had refused,
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.
Marcus Ashmore and Terrell Lee Green were maintenance workers for J.P. Thayer Co., Inc. under supervisor Gene Fye. After a particular incident of harassment on January 16, 2001, Plaintiffs reported Fye to Tricia Johnson, the Assistant Property Manager. At this time, Johnson did nothing about the complaint. The harassment continued, and on January 26, Plaintiffs complained to the Property Manager, Mary Frances de Rivera. In response, de Rivera verbally reprimanded Fye. This, however, did not stop Fye’s harassment. Instead of reporting the behavior to Defendant, Plaintiffs hired an attorney who wrote a letter to Defendant saying that Ashmore and Green were going to file charges of discrimination with the EEOC. On February 22, Fye was fired by Defendant. This came three days after getting the letter and about a month after the initial harassment complaints.
Charges of workplace discrimination is said to be at an all time high. During the 2015 fiscal year the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity released information that claims there were more than 89,000 charges filed for workplace discrimination. One of the top ten charges is said to be retaliation, which had an estimate 39,757 cases in 2015, which is 44.5 percent of all charges filed. Retaliation is said to be in violation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, For the purpose of this research paper I will provide the understanding of both Acts, while also taking a case that deals with to provide the basis of the case, the findings, and the outcome of the charges.
With Wal-Mart being the site of various lawsuits little perplexity is left surrounding the multitude of cases involving discrimination and violations of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) laws. In 2006, there was an average of 5,000 lawsuits per year, or about seventeen suits per day; as well as, a video documentary, that was made public knowledge of the aspects involving Wal-Mart’s policies and procedures, and the company’s regard for respect of its employees (Brantner, 2006). After reviewing, two of the most recent cases of Wal-Mart’s discrimination of the company’s employees, one is left to wonder if there is ever going to be a change in Wal-Mart’s compliance with the EEOC laws?
The significance of this case revolves around the “supervisor(s)” liability rule under the Title VII. The rule under the Title VII act clearly states that employer’s liability for workplace harassment depends upon the status or job title and duties of the harasser. Summarizing that if the harasser is a co-worker the employer will only be held accountable if negligence in diffusing the intense and awkward work conditions was found on their part. However, if the harasser is a supervisor, (has the power to change employee work status i.e. hire, fire, etc.), and the harassment results in tangible actions towards the employee such as changes in duties, benefits, etc… the employer is totally liable. On the other hand, the employer is not liable if corrective measures and procedure were provided on the companies end, or if the plaintiff ignored or disregarded corrective measures provided by the employer.
The EEOC’s suit civil action number is 13-5198 was filled with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Fayetteville Division. Triple T violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Pregnancy Discrimination ACT of 1978 when they fired their lab technician the same day she informed the company she was pregnant. At the end of the case Triple T Foods was forced to pay $30,000 dollars to the former employee and pay to have training programs added to their company to ensure the knowledge of rights every employee was known.
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
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
As seen in the case study, a court decision may be one way for any company to legally define what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace, but there are many ways to define sexual harassment. Everyone has different views and tolerance levels towards sexual harassment. When a case of sexual harassment occurs in a workplace, however, it comes down to how the courts define sexual harassment. The Supreme Court defines sexual harassment to be unlawful in two ways. “The first type involves sexual harassment that results in a tangible employment action;” this is referred to as quid pro quo. For example, if an employee complies with the harasser’s request, then she will get a raise. This unlawful act is usually presented in the workplace by a person who has an upper hand, such as a manager, to ensure that s/he will get what s/he wants. Employees are often victimized by fear that they will not get promoted or that they will get fired. They also dread that if a complaint is filed, it will not be handled correctly. “This instance of sexual harassment always involves another violation of employee rights; [sic] wrongful termination.” This would occur, for instance, when “a supervisor . . . tells a subordinate that . . . she must be sexually cooperative with [him] or . . . she will be fired, and who then indeed does fire the subordinate for not submitting” (“U.S. Supreme Court Defines”). [schwinlaw.com]
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.
Another form of sexual harassment is a hostile work environment. The hostile environment theory involves sexual advances between the supervisor and the employee. An employee’s work performance will be less effective due to these so-called sexual advances. However, a victim can file a complaint against their harasser so that they do not continuously force them to participate. Consequently, they will be forced to hand in their resignation. [This is an issue of power and has nothing to do with sex. For this reason, both male and females can be the harasser. The harasser’s main purpose is to force another to feel or act in a certain way. Sometimes, sexual harassment causes an individual from effectively performing his/her job. As a result, is undermines an individual’s dignity. In our society, there are three essential factors that relate to the issue of sexual advances. These elements are a divergence of perceptions, the complexity of human behavior and the attitudes of a sexist.]