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who participates in sexual joking or has a consensual sexual relationship with his or her supervisor may
have a difficult time proving sexual harassment. An employee need not necessarily complain about
harassment in order to recover. An employer will be liable for the harassment of an employee by a
coworker, client, or customer if the employer knew or should have known of the harassment, and failed
to take appropriate actions to stop it. An employee must be able to show that his or her employer "knew
or should have known" of (the harassing behavior), even if the employee did not complain to the
appropriate person. If the "harasser" has troubled others in the past, and those persons have
complained, the employee may be able to show that the employer was "on notice" that harassment was
a problem. If, once the employer knows of the harassment, it takes action and the harassment stops,
then the employee may not have a claim.
What Is A Hostile Work Environment?
When an employer subjects an employee in her work environment to pervasive discriminatory behavior,
the employee may have a hostile work environment claim. The term "hostile work environment" does not
necessarily cover environments that are unpleasant or unfair unless the hostility involves severe or
pervasive discriminatory behavior.
What Should I Do?
If the harassment is by a supervisor, the employee need not necessarily show that the employer "knew
or should have known" of the harassment. Instead, the employer has the burden of showing that it took
appropriate actions to prevent and correct sexual harassment (such as by distributing a clear sexual
harassment policy to all employees and by giving employees an appropriate and accessible person with
whom to lodge complaints), and that the employee acted unreasonably in failing to take advantage of
those steps. However, where the harassing supervisor has managed to take some adverse employment
action, such as disciplining or demoting the employee, the fact that an employer has a sexual
harassment policy in place will not protect the employer against a claim of harassment.
It is illegal for an employer to harass or retaliate against an employee for bringing a complaint or legal
claim of sexual harassment. If you have been subject to discriminatory or harassing behavior in the work
place, contact us to discuss your rights and remedies today.
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