Employers and/or supervisors are generally liable for sexual harassment in the workplace. Both men and women can be victims of sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment refers to inappropriate and unwelcome behavior in the workplace and can take the form of either:
Quid Pro Quo Harassment: This form of sexual harassment may occur when a supervisor makes promises or threats, express or implied, for sexual favors. For instance,
- a supervisor threatening to fire or demote an employee if that employee refuses sexual advances
- a supervisor promising promotion, advancement or other favorable treatment to an employee if that employee submits to sexual advances
Hostile Work Environment Harassment: Unlike quid pro quo harassment, this form of sexual harassment does not require that the victim suffer loss of job benefits or actual injury. It may occur where verbal and physical conduct, of both a sexual or nonsexual nature, results in an abusive, intimidating, hostile or offense work environment. A hostile work environment can be created by verbal conduct (e.g., harassment, lewd remarks, slurs, insults, hostile words, sexual advances) physical conduct (e.g., sexual assault, impeding or blocking movement, offensive touching, persistent staring) and/or displays of visually offensive materials (e.g., pornography, cartoons, posters).
If you believe that you are the victim of sexual harassment or were retaliated against for lodging a complaint of sexual harassment, please contact the Law Offices of David S. Levy for a free initial consultation. We typically represent clients in sexual harassment matters on a contingent fee basis, which means that our clients do not pay attorney fees or costs unless and until there is a recovery.