Sexual Harassment
Sexual
harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 and Connecticut state law. Title VII applies to employers
with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. It also
applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations, as well as to the
federal government. Connecticut law applies to employers with 3 or more
employees.
Unwelcome
sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical
conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct
explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably
interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive work environment.
Sexual
harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including:
- The victim as well as the
harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the
opposite sex.
- The harasser can be the
victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another
area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
- The victim does not have to be
the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
- Unlawful sexual harassment may
occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
- The harasser's conduct must be
unwelcome.
It
is helpful for the victim to inform the harasser directly that the conduct is
unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism
or grievance system available.
It
is also unlawful to retaliate against an individual for reporting sexual
harassment in the workplace.
