Dealing with sexual harassment at work is never easy. Unfortunately, incidents that can be considered sexual harassment happen in NY all the time. In simple English, sexual harassment can be referred to unwelcome sexual conduct at work, often from colleagues, supervisors, managers, or clients. This may sometimes refer to something as simple as cracking an inappropriate joke, touching or requesting for sexual favors. Federal & NY-state laws prohibit sexual harassment at work. Employers can be held responsible for sexual harassment, if
- The sexual harassment was a fault of the supervisor, manager, or co-owner.
- The harassment came from a colleague or other employee, and the employer knew about it or should have known.
- There was no sexual harassment policy in place
If you have suffered such unwelcome conduct at work, one of the first steps is to contact one of Queens sexual harassment lawyers, to get quick advice. Here are some quick things worth knowing.
Understanding sexual harassment in NY
There are two types of sexual harassment recognized by law –
- Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment. This kind of sexual harassment refers to a situation, where an employee may feel that they must go along the conduct for getting a promotion or increase in salary, or sometimes, just for preventing retaliation. For instance, if you ignore the sexual advances of a supervisor because your promotion is impending, this is called Quid Pro Quo sexual harassment.
- Hostile Work Environment. As the name suggests, this kind of sexual harassment happens when the work environment has become hostile, because of conduct of those working at the workplace. Sometimes, the managers, supervisors and colleagues may create an environment for an employee, where they are not capable of working, or may be forced top quit work.
Common examples of sexual harassment
- Showing, sharing or displaying pornographic videos and images
- Making lewd remarks
- Asking for sexual favors
- Making obscene gestures
- Using vulgar language
- Telling inappropriate jokes
- Touching oneself in an obscene way
- Touching someone in a way that indicates sexual gesture
Get a sexual harassment lawyer right away
Don’t ignore sexual advances from anyone at work and report the incident in writing to your supervisor. If the company fails to act, or takes retaliatory action – both being unlawful – you should consider contacting an experienced sexual harassment lawyer in NY, who will fight the case aggressively on your behalf. As needed, they may even take your employer to the court.
