What Is Sexual Harassment?
According to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Guidelines, sexual harassment is defined as "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:
- submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment;
- submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual; or
- such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment."
Specifically, sexual harassment can include:
- verbal abuse (propositions, lewd comments, sexual insults);
- visual abuse (leering or display of pornographic material designed to embarrass or intimidate an employee);
- physical abuse (touching, pinching, cornering); or
- rape.
