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Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

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SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Business Ethics
Philosophy Class 218

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

What is sexual harassment?
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), "sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment."
I think sexual harassment in the workplace is a social …show more content…

Cooper says the order of placement is based upon, "a third party's ability to identify the perpetrator's behavior as sexual harassment and the severity of the infraction."
The six levels include:
1. Aesthetic appreciation
2. Active mental groping
3. Social touching
4. Foreplay harassment
5. Sexual abuse
6. Ultimate threat
His description of aesthetic appreciation includes nonaggressive comments related to appreciation of physical features. Although the meaning may be innocently concealed in such nonaggressive comments, it is still nonetheless sexual harassment. He cites an example of this type of appreciation of physical features as, "Gee…sigh…you're looking better every day!" He argues that no matter how harmless the comments may seem they are still a put-down to the female gender and that a manager to make such comments could be construed as favoritism because of the person's physical features.
Active mental groping is the second level in Cooper's sexual harassment descriptions. He believes that direct verbal harassment is a form of active mental groping because it includes sexual jokes about the employee and staring at employee, which possibly leaves employee feeling uncomfortable, as if they are being undressed with the person's eyes.
Third on his list is social touching. Social touching is distinguished as either friendly or sensual touching. Cooper gives us the example of, "a caressing hand laid gently on the employee," as a sensual

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