Understanding Sexual Harassment Liability: Employer Responsibilities and Employee Protections

Sexual harassment in workplaces is against the law, but unfortunately, it continues to occur with alarming frequency. Fortunately, employees who experience sexual harassment have the right to complain to their employer. In cases where an employer fails to take action, they can be held liable for the harassment.

For behavior to be considered as sexual harassment, it must have violated someone's dignity or created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for them, whether intentional or not. The employer can only avoid liability if they took reasonable precautions to prevent and correct harassment and the employee did not take advantage of preventive or corrective measures.

Proving a Sexual Harassment Case:

To establish a sexual harassment case, a plaintiff must prove that the offensive conduct was unwelcomed, based on sex, sufficiently severe or pervasive to create an abusive work environment, and imputable to the employer.

Employer's Defense in Cases Involving a Supervisor:

An employer may be held liable in a harassment case involving a supervisor, but they can sometimes defend themselves. If the harassment results from a tangible employment action, the employer is automatically liable. However, if the harassment didn't lead to such an action, the employer can defend themselves by showing that they made reasonable efforts to prevent and address harassment and the plaintiff employee didn't use the preventive or corrective measures provided.

Reporting Sexual Harassment Complaints:

The time it takes for an employee to report sexual harassment may affect the employer's defense. Prompt reporting generally strengthens the employee's legal argument, but there may be valid reasons for delayed reporting. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sets a timeframe of 180 days from the incident for filing a charge, which some state laws may extend to 300 days.

Written vs. Verbal Complaints:

While internal complaints about sexual harassment are often written, the form of the complaint is not crucial. The primary importance lies in the fact that the employee notifies the employer of the sexual harassment.

Conclusion:

"Making an internal complaint may lead to justice for an employee and could make an employer liable for the harassment," says attorney Mark Sherman. In some cases, however, an employer may be able to defend themselves. This article has broken down what it takes for an employer to be found liable for sexual harassment.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.