Sexual discrimination and harassment in the Workplace

While it's the most commonly talked about form of discrimination, sexual discrimination in the workplace is not the only type of gender-based discrimination. Aside from lewd comments and innuendos, sexual discrimination laws also protects employees by providing equal pay and equal opportunities for hiring and advancement purposes. Additionally, while most sexual discrimination cases in the workplace involve women, men can and are sexually harassed and discriminated against. In fact, of the almost 14,000 sexual harassment charges received by the EEOC in 2008, 16% of those claims were by males and these numbers seem to be rising yearly.

Most sexual discrimination cases in the workplace are fairly black and white. If a company fails to hire women or refuses to promote men, they are being discriminatory. If all men in a certain company make more than women in the same positions, this is a clear cut case of sexual discrimination. If your workplace suffers from employee discrimination, contact a Jacksonville sexual descrimination lawyer to discuss your legal options.

Sexual harassment is not as obvious in most cases. Sure harassment is blatant when a boss slaps his married secretary on her backside, but what if the boss and secretary are married? If the activity is welcome by the secretary and not performed in front of other people, it is ok. Sexual harassment does not need to victimize the person targeted. In the example above, if the employee felt uncomfortable seeing the slap, the couple would be sexually harassing the other employee.

To qualify as sexual harassment in the workplace, behavior must fit the following conditions:

There must be some type of sexual advance, request for favors or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
The conduct must affect the harassed person's employment, work performance or create a hostile or offensive work environment. Generally, anything that makes an employee feel uncomfortable can meet these requirements.
The harassment must be unwelcome. Because it is generally hard to tell if something is welcome until it happens, employees are well-advised to not participate in any potentially harassing activities and employers are advised to take action before unwelcome conduct occurs.
The harasser does not need to be employed by the company or of the opposite sex as the victim. A rude customer that is not asked to leave could result in a sexual harassment case against the employer.
The victim need not suffer from economic injury or discharge, merely feeling uncomfortable is enough to warrant sexual harassment.

For an employer to be liable for sexual harassment, they must know about the workplace harassment and fail to make an effort to rectify the problem. Employees facing sexual harassment in the workplace should ask the harasser to stop the offensive behavior and then notify their human resources department or their bosses. Employers should offer sexual harassment training and discipline to the harasser. If the behavior does not stop, the employee may contact a Jacksonville unemployment compensation attorney and seek legal action against her employer.

Jacksonville unemployment lawyer has over 15 years experience and a clear-cut drive to provide his clients with top-notch legal services. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a free initial appointment with this skilled Jacksonville unemployment compensation lawyer, contact our offices today.