Sexual harassment is considered unlawful under both federal and state statutes. Employers are legally required to take affirmative action to prevent any unwelcome sexual advances or harassment on the basis of sex or sexual orientation. Acts constituting sexual harassment include derogatory comments or slurs, touching, unwanted sexual comments and jokes, repeated romantic overtures and epithets among others.
If someone in a supervisory position such as an employer, boss or manager makes unwanted sexual advances towards you or uses offensive sexual innuendo or explicit sexual remarks, they may be liable for sexual harassment and the victim can sue them through a Sexual Harassment Attorney in Worcester MA. An employer may also become liable for sexual harassment because of vicarious liability. Types of sexual harassment include:
* Gender harassment: This includes generalized sexist statements and conducts conveying insulting or degrading attitude against women. Such includes offensive graffiti, Insulting remarks and obscene jokes about sex or women.
* Seductive behavior, involving unwanted, offensive and inappropriate sexual advances: This also manifests in the form of repeated sexual invitations, persistent letters and phone calls among other invitations.
* Sexual coercion: This is the act of compelling another into a sexual activity by threat of punishment. Examples include withholding of promotions, negative performance evaluation and threat of termination among others.
* Sexual bribery: This is a solicitation of sexual activity by promise of a reward. The proposition can either be overt or subtle.
* Sexual imposition: this includes forceful touching, grabbing or feeling.
Being sexually harassed can easily devastate both your physical and psychological health, as well as undermining your vocational development. Women who have been sexually harassed will often suffer from depression, denial, shock, fear, irritability, frustration, embarrassment, confusion, a feeling of betrayal and low self-esteem among other negative feelings. Such women will also exhibit signs of reduced job satisfaction, a drop in work performance due to stress, absenteeism and change in career goals.
Sexual harassment is an extremely broad area of law that entails numerous different details. The surest way you can determine whether you have a claim against your employer is by consulting a Sexual Harassment Attorney in Worcester MA.
