Sexual harassment is a superior or supervisor conditioning continued employment, salary, promotion, good evaluations, bonuses and the like, on putting out sexual favors as a term and condition of employment.

Sexual harassment is touching, stroking, grabbing at private parts, attempting to make the victim touch the harassers, and other assaulting behaviors.

Sexual harassment is the creation of a hostile working environment by the use of obscene words and phrases, posting of nude pictures and cartoons, obscene gestures, etc.

Sexual harassment is the importuning of sexual favors from an unwilling victim.

The classic case of sexual harassment is the secretary being harassed by her boss for a little extracurricular activity. Before I get into legal remedies, there are in certain limited circumstances, things that can be done to stop sexual harassment in a practical way without recourse to the law. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.

The following sometimes works in circumstances with men who believe that a woman has to belong to some male. The boss has made his desires clear and the lady wants nothing to do with him. She doesn't want to loss her job. A brother, father, husband, boyfriend or all of them, "visit" her in the office. She introduces them to the boss. They have a nice "friendly" chat with the boss but say absolutely nothing about his propositions. Thereafter, the boss leaves the lady strictly alone. This never ceases to amaze me, but it does frequently work.

If a man is harassing one woman, chances are he has harassed and/or is harassing other women. Women have effectively joined together, marched unannounced into the boss' office en masse and told him to do something about "Bob" because he is disrupting the entire office and do you know what he did to me, and do you know what he did to Sue, and do you know what he did to ... This often results in the problem being taken care of and rather quickly too.

There was a time when women wore spiked heels and could "accidently" stomp a hole into the foot of anybody who got too close, but I don't think they wear them anymore and the law of self-defense is really tricky so I don't encourage such things. However, if a lady is being assaulted, she has a right to engage in self-defense and do what she has to do to get away. Keep in mind that if a harasser follows a lady into the supply room and she screams and he emerges with a fat lip, what happened will be no mystery to anyone and he will spend a good portion of the day explaining what happened. If he follows a lady into the supply room and remains there for some time and the lady suffers various indignities quietly because she is embarassed, everyone will think the lady went in there to be alone with him.

The victim must make it absolutely clear that she is not willing. A victim of sexual harassment must never aid her harasser by remaining silent. The harasser, and perhaps others, will inevitably interpret silence as consent. Clearly speaking the word "no" is the only way to go. Tact on the part of the lady is necessary and OK - up to a point, but the situation should not be left with an ambiguity that the harasser, and perhaps others, will interpret as consent. If the harasser is just not getting the message, is being obscene and/or grabby, and won't go away, then the NO must be loud and clear and if possible, in the presence of witnesses.

Rarely, when the NO is spoken, the man gives up and goes away. Often, he becomes very hostile and angry at rejection. Often, despite being told no, the harasser continues to pursue the lady aggressively. Sometimes he promises rewards and threatens retaliation. If he is her supervisor or superior, he might give her unfavorable work assignments, poor evaluations, low raises, passes her over for promotion, and uses his authority to coerce her into a sexual encounter and/or punish her for rejecting his advances. He might arrange to have her fired. Harassers have been known to pursue their victims for years, even after the employment has ended, so it is necessary for the victim to fight back appropriately. A harasser can be adept at concealing his conduct from others and appear to be normal, especially to other men, but there is definitely a cog loose in his mental machinery and/or he is not thinking with his brains. A victim should never be quiet, never keep the harasser's secret and should make a formal written complaint to the employer.

The employer is required to make sure the supervisors and superiors who have authority to make employment decisions do not sexually harass their employees. In some jurisdictions, where the harasser is a nonsupervisory co- employee, the lady may have to give notice to the employer that her working environment has become hostile because of the co-employee's actions. For example, sexual harassment can occur when the lady is afraid to go to the supply room because the men who work there scream obscenities at her and grab at her whenever she goes there and she is required to go there as part of her duties. If the employer does not immediately eliminate this behavior upon her complaint, he is open to litigation. The employer may claim she never complained so it is best that the complaint be in writing. Sometimes the lady is too afraid to complain. The employer might still find himself liable because this conduct created such an open and obvious hostile working environment that the employer should have known. However, the carefully written complaint is always the better course regardless of whether the harasser is a superior, supervisor or co- employee.

Unfortunately, whether the sexual harassment is by a superior or by a co-employee, making a complaint usually does not cure the situation. The harassers often become hostile and vengeful. Many employers blame the victim and transfer, give adverse employment evaluations, demote or fire the victim or begin a campaign of harassment against her in an effort to cause her to leave "voluntarily." Many employers are too concerned about protecting themselves from suit to worry about the victim or about preventing retaliation by the harasser. Often nothing at all happens to the harasser, but the victim herself is severely punished under the guise of correcting the problem. If a person is employed where sexual harassment is possible, then she should not be surprised that she is harassed for complaining. Therefore, any woman who is thinking about making a complaint should be hiring an attorney, gathering her proof and getting ready to document retaliation.

Sometimes the employer conducts an "investigation." Unfortunately, the investigation is rarely for the purpose of gathering truth but rather is for the purpose of protecting the employer and gathering evidence to use against the victim if she decides to go to court. The harasser, of course, will deny everything. Investigation reports may be written from "interviews" with the victim which the victim never sees until years later. These reports may misquote, twist facts and slant her statements in a light most favorable to the employer. Many innocents naively complain to the employer in the hope that the harassment will stop, not realizing that the harassment is just beginning. To paraphase Bill Cosby, employers are not interested in justice, they just want peace and quiet.

If all this happens, then why complain. Well, most people don't until the situation becomes intolerable and the victim feels she has no choice but to complaint and take legal action. The harasser is answerable in financial damages to the victim. If he has assaulted her, then criminal charges can be brought against him. The employer also can be liable in damages for the sexual harassment by its employee. The employer can be liable for retaliation against the victim for complaining. If the conduct was egregious enough, the monetary award can be quite substantial.

A victim of sexual harassment can file suit in a court of law or by filing a complaint with the appropriate governmental agencies. Unfortunately the laws are such that if the victim makes a mistake and files in the wrong place, or lets too much time go by, or is not able to properly write up a complaint, she can lose her case without there even being a trial. It is important that she have an attorney to guide her.

Now, something should be said for the alleged harasser. Few men are harassers. Not all persons accused of harassment are guilty. Some women are very prudish and sensitive. The intelligent man, of course, is very gentlemanly around them. Sometimes woman think that innocent things, such as an invitation for a date, without more, are sexual harassment. Sometimes things are misconstrued and misinterpreted. Sometimes the complaint of sexual harassment is false and "political." It happens. Sometimes, the man and the woman have completely different perspectives on the significance of particular words and acts. A man accused of sexual harassment also needs an attorney to protect his interests.

Most jurisdictions now have jury trials in these kind of cases. Each case is weighed on its own individual merits by a jury which ultimately decides whether or not there has been sexual harassment and if so, what damages are to be awarded to the victim.

You can request a certificate for a free initial consultation by email addressed to helbig@ix.netcom.com or lawpage@1stfamily.com.

Sandra D. Helbig
Attorney at Law

16 Highland Place
West Orange, N.J. 07052
(201) 731-9828

lawpage@1stfamily.com
helbig@ix.netcom.com
http://www.netcom.com/~helbig/lawpage.html