Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees. This page will discuss the topic of sexual harassment and the relevant laws in greater detail.
Equal Opportunity Employment Commission EEOC defines workplace sexual harassment as unwelcome sexual advances or conduct of a sexual nature which unreasonably interferes with the performance of a person's job or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Sexual harassment can range from persistent offensive sexual jokes to inappropriate touching to posting offensive material on a bulletin board.
As reported by Gizmodo , the suit alleges that Loretta Lee, a former software engineer, had to endure lewd comments, pranks, and even physical violence from coworkers. Lee worked at Google for seven years before being fired in February , and is suing the company for sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination.
A whistleblowing lawyer who wrote a confronting essay on sexual harassment in the industry says she is underwhelmed by the New Zealand Law Society's response to her call to action. Olivia Wensley wrote on Linked In this week about the experiences — including a law firm partner introducing her to an associate by saying "I've just hired a nice little piece of ass for you".
How will the current avalanche of sexual-harassment allegations toppling prominent men in media and government roll down to more mundane workplaces? As employers and employees across the country try to apply lessons from MeToo into quotidian employment contexts, legal norms that govern workplace sexual harassment may also be poised to undergo epochal transformations.
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that tends to create a hostile or offensive work environment. Sexual harassment is a form of Sex Discrimination that occurs in the workplace.