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Drawing the Line – Filing Sexual Harassment Charges

These days, more people are aware of their rights in the workplace. Gone are the days when people take harassment sitting down.

Sexual harassment charges that were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reached 12,510 for the fiscal year 2007. Out of this number, 16% of the charges were filed by males.

Sexual harassment charges can be filed by anybody, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. According to US laws, sexual harassment is a kind of discrimination based on sex which is in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964. This act covers employers that have 15 or more employees in the company, including federal and state government offices.

The conditions where sexual harassment can occur include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The victim and the harasser may be a man or a woman

• The victim and the harasser may be of the same sex. It is not necessary that they be of the opposite sex for the act to be considered sexual harassment

• The victim who files sexual harassment charges does not need to be the one who was directly harassed. It may be anyone who was affected by the offensive act

• Sexual harassment may occur even without economic injury to the victim

• The conduct of the harasser must be unwelcome to the victim

When faced with situations where sexual harassment is present, it is helpful if the victim would express in some way to the harasser that his or her advances are not welcome.

In the workplace, steps should be taken to make the environment non-conducive to sexual harassment. It is the employers’ duty to make sure of that. There are a number of things that employers can do to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Here are a few suggestions:

• Make your anti-sexual harassment policy clear to everyone. Define what constitutes sexual harassment and make it clear to all employees that it will not be tolerated, no matter what the position of the harasser may be. Set out a clear procedure in writing, outlining the steps complainants should take when reporting sexual harassment. Make sure that all of this is included in the employee handbook

• Educate employees about sexual harassment

• Educate the supervisors and managers in your company so that they will not do things that will be interpreted as sexual harassment by the employees

• Look around. From time to time, go around the workplace and check for offensive content in the company computers, or any offensive photos, figurines, and the likes. Talk to employees to get the general feel of the interaction in the workplace

• Take complaints seriously. If your employees express discomfort about the workplace, or if formal sexual harassment charges have been filed, do not drag your feet in your response

If you are an employee and you are being harassed, here are a few steps you can take to respond to the situation appropriately:

• Tell your harasser to stop what he or she is doing. Make it clear that the advances or offensive attitude is unwelcome

• Complain to your supervisors. Use all channels for complaint that your employer has provided to employees

• Keep a journal of the harassment. Document everything about the incident including witnesses, words said, attitude towards you, date, time, place, and any pertinent information that you can add to that. Once you have made a formal complaint to your employer about the harassment, keep all the paperwork related to your complain. Memos, email exchanges, and anything related to that will be useful in the future if you decide to go to court and file sexual harassment charges

• File a complaint to the EEOC before you file a lawsuit

If you feel you have been victimized by this type of sex discrimination, consult with a lawyer to find out the appropriate steps you can take towards filing sexual harassment charges.

Article Source: http://www.articles.com.mx

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