Sexual Harassment in the Office

Sexual Harassment in the Office

Using the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1991 discuss the type of sexual harassment Mary thinks she is experiencing. What are the obligations of the HR manager once Mary reports this? Discuss the likelihood that Bob would be found guilty of sexually harassing Mary. If the HR manager investigates and finds Mary is telling the truth, what should s/he do to handle the situation so that the company is not found complicit by the EEOC (us equal employment opportunity commission) if further complaint is made? If the judgment is found in Mary's favor, what options does the HR manager have to remedy the situation?

There are two types of legally prohibited sexual harassment. The first is harassment of the "quid pro quo" variety, where there is an open threat that an employee's job, promotion, or bonus may be in jeopardy if the employee does not engage in unwanted sexual conduct. The second is the creation of a "hostile environment" in which an employee such as Bob, who is in a position of power, bad-mouths an employee like Mary because she has refused to engage in sexual conduct, gives unjustified poor performance evaluations to Mary, or otherwise makes the environment difficult for Mary to work and to prosper. There is a strong likelihood if Mary is telling the truth that Bob would be found guilty of harassment. In two 1998 rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court made employers responsible for the actions of supervisors, even when the employer was unaware of the supervisor's behavior, and also found that "an employee that refuses the unwelcome sexual harassment of a supervisor, and who suffers no adverse job consequences, can still bring a sexual harassment lawsuit against her employer if the employee can show they were discriminated by the sexual content. The employee will not necessarily be required to show a loss of advancement, retaliation, loss of income, or stress as they once did under 'quid pro quo' and hostile-environment. They will need to show that the nature of the sexual content they experienced caused them to experience discrimination" ("Sexual Harassment and Discrimination," 2007, Employer-Employee.com).