Types of Workplace Sexual Harassment

Types of Sexual Harassment at Work

Enduring sexual harassment or sex- or gender-based discrimination on the job can make you dread going to work, and leave you feeling trapped. Fortunately, you're not without options. Both state and federal law protects you from an employer's unlawful conduct and gives you the opportunity to take legal action to hold them accountable for wrongdoing.

However, sexual harassment can take a number of forms in the workplace. Identifying the type of harassment you faced—or were exposed to—on the job can provide your employment attorney with much-needed information about your case.

Here's what you should know about the different types of sexual harassment and how Bailess Law Firm's exceptional team of understanding employment lawyers can help you fight back against them.

Download our book It's Not Your Fault: How to Fight Back Against Sexual Harassment in the Workplace and don't wait—the help you need is just a call or click away.

How to Define and Recognize Sexual Harassment on the Job

While most survivors can confidently state that what they experienced was gross, degrading, and inappropriate, they may be less certain about whether it actually “counts” as sexual harassment. If this sounds familiar, it's probably because it's so incredibly common.

Even people who've been through clear-cut cases of workplace sexual harassment can find themselves wondering if they're “being too sensitive” or “making something out of nothing.” That's the insidious nature of sexual harassment—it can cause survivors to second-guess themselves and what happened to them.

The West Virginia Human Rights Act states that unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:

Compliance is explicitly or implicitly made a term or condition of your employment or exchanged for job benefits
Submission or rejection of the sexually inappropriate conduct is used as the basis for making decisions about your continued employment
The conduct in question unreasonably interferes with your job performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment

What Does Sexual Harassment Look Like in the Workplace?

Common examples of sexually harassing or discriminatory behavior include:

Making sexual advances
Telling inappropriate jokes
Touching
Sending offensive notes, text messages, or emails
Displaying pornography (or circulating inappropriate photos, videos, or memes)
Violating personal space
Spreading sexual rumors
Discussing their private sex life (or asking about yours)
Giving unwanted gifts of a romantic or sexual nature
Repeatedly commenting on your appearance or the attractiveness of others
“Testing the waters” for sex
Subjecting you to an intimidating and hostile work environment because you're a woman
Retaliating against you for reporting sexual harassment or other unlawful behavior

What Are the Two Types of Sexual Harassment?

The two types of sexual harassment in the workplace are a hostile work environment and Quid Pro Quo.

Hostile Work Environment

People who work in hostile environments often describe their workplace culture as toxic or polluted by sexual harassment and discrimination. Sound familiar? If so, you're not alone. This is the most common type of on-the-job harassment.

Characterized by persistent unwelcome sexual attention, hostile work environment harassment can encompass a wide range of inappropriate conduct, such as:

Sexual advances
Touching
Jokes
Intimidation
Retaliation
Gender-based discrimination
Failing to take timely action in response to reported sexual harassment

Quid Pro Quo

Quid pro quo harassment, which is named for a Latin phrase meaning, “this for that,” happens when an employer promises to reward an employee for submitting to sexual advances or requests for sexual favors or threatens employment consequences for those who reject them or refuse. These promises or threats can be explicit or implicit.

Consider the following examples of quid pro quo workplace sexual harassment:

Mary's employer, Tom, implies that being promoted depends on her willingness to accept his sexual advances
John tells his employee, Beth, that he'll give her a raise if she has sex with him
Chad talks to his employee, Jess, about impending layoffs and suggests that refusing his sexual advances could put her job at risk
Allison's employer, Joe, says that he'll cut her hours if she doesn't go out with him

Though quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs frequently in movies and on television, it's less common in the workplace than its counterpart, hostile work environment harassment.

How to Take Action Against These Types of Workplace Sexual Harassment

The idea of reporting on-the-job harassment, discrimination, or retaliation can be frightening and intimidating. However, it's an essential step in fighting back against workplace harassment, as it triggers your employer's duty to act.

You need to take action by:

Reporting the sexual harassment to a supervisor, manager, or the company's human resources department if you're being harassed by a coworker, customer, or client.
If you're being sexually harassed by a supervisor, manager, department head, or business owner, report the harassment to a different supervisor, manager, owner, or department head. Alternatively, you can report the harassment to your company's human resources department or call an employee hotline to make a complaint.

Employees have a right to work in an environment that's safe and free from harassment and discrimination. As a result, any worker can report sexual harassment, discrimination, or retaliation that occurs on the job—even if these unlawful behaviors aren't specifically directed toward them.

Just like secondhand smoke can have harmful effects on bystanders, being regularly exposed to a toxic work environment where harassment and discrimination go unchecked can also take a toll.

We Help Workers Fight Back Against Workplace Sexual Harassment

Bailess Law Firm helps survivors of on-the-job sexual harassment hold their employers accountable and recover a fair settlement or financial award for their damages and losses. If you are experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace call to see how our team can do the same for you