| Visual |
Verbal |
Written |
Touching |
Power |
Threats |
Force |
| Ogling
Staring
Posters
Magazines
Flyers
Cartoons |
Requests for Dates
Questions about personal life
Lewd Comments
Dirty, sexual jokes
Whistling
Name calling |
Love poems
Love letters
Obscene poems
Obscene letters |
Violating space
Patting
Grabbing
Pinching
Caressing
Kissing
Holding Hands |
Relationships
Using positions to request dates, sex,
etc.
Unwanted phone calls/home visits |
Quid pro quo
demands
Loss of job
Selection process |
Rape
Physical assault |
How to Handle Sexual Harrassment
APPROPRIATE EMPLOYEE ACTIONS
1) Say no. Tell the harasser you don't like the
behavior and to stop it. Be firm and clear, but polite. Try to have
a witness present to hear you say this.
2) If the harasser continues, tell the next person
in authority: your boss, the personnel department, a greivance committee.
Show the person this information. The company should work out the
situation because a lawsuit is expensive for them.
3) Keep a diary at home of what happened: date,
time, place, who said and did what. List witnesses. Record any physical
or emotional stress related to the incident including if you saw
a doctor.
4) Look for support among your colleagues. Other
people may have experienced sexual harassment by the same person
too.
5) If you quit because the situation is intolerable,
state your charges in a letter to the head of personnel and send
it certified mail, return receipt requested. Your complaint is then
on record with the company when you file for unemployment benefits.
6) Places to contact for help in sexual harassment
cases for Onondaga County residents:
i) an attorney;
ii) New York State Division of Human Rights, 428-4633;
iii) Onondaga County/Syracuse Commission on Human Rights, 435-3565.
iv) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (716) 551-4441 or (800) 669-4000.
EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES
"An employer is responsible for its acts and those of its agents
and supervisory employees with respect to sexual harassment regardless
of whether the specific acts complained of were authorized or even
forbidden by the employer and regardless of whether the employer
knew or should of known of their occurence."
"With respect to conduct between fellow employees, an employer
is responsible for acts of sexual harassment in the workplace where
the employer (or its agents or supervisory employees) knows or should
have known of the conduct, unless it can show that it took immediate
and appropriate corrective action."
"An employer may also be responsible for the acts of non-employees,
with respect to sexual harassment of employees in the workplace,
where the employer...knows or should have known of the conduct and
fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action."
"Prevention is the best tool for the elimination of sexual
harassment. An employer should take all steps necessary to prevent
sexual harassment from occurring , such as affirmatively raising
the subject, expressing strong disapproval, developing appropriate
sanctions, informing employees of their right to raise the issue
of harassment and how to raise it under Title VII, and developing
methods to sensitize all concerned."
Equal Opportunity Commission Guidelines
on Discrimination Because of Sex (29 CFR Part 1604.11) |
