Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment
There are two key categories of sexual harassment that have so far been recognized by the various courts of the United States as prohibited by law. Hostile environment sexual harassment is less recognized or acknowledged by the public but still exists and is a problem.
Hostile environment sexual harassment is sexual harassment that has the general effect of interfering with the victim's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment that affects the victim's psychological well-being. This type of sexual harassment does not need to be directed at any one person and does not necessarily involve an exchange of any sort.
This type of sexual harassment is a reference to a workplace situation where employees are subject to a pattern of exposure to unwanted sexual behavior that does not have to come from an employee's direct supervisor. In addition, the supervisors, managers, and others in a position of authority take no steps to discourage or to stop the behavior.
Here, unlike quid pro quo sexual harassment, there is not a request for a sexual favor in return for something that is within the supervisor's power to grant. As it requires no requests for sexual favors, it has been less recognized by the courts. Quid pro quo harassment has existed and been a tenet of employment law for decades whereas hostile environment has only existed since the 1980s as an actionable claim.
Some actions that can create a hostile working environment include:
- Pornographic photos in employee's cubicles
- Constantly telling “dirty” jokes in a way that all employees can hear them
- Tolerating or allowing employees to make sexually suggestive remarks about other employees
- Allowing employees to persist in unwanted attention or advances, like asking for dates
- The use of derogatory terms with a sexual connotation
Contact a Houston Employment Lawyer
If you have been the victim of sexual harassment, contact the Houston employment lawyers of the Ross Law Group today at 713-482-6910.