What is Sex Harassment and “Hostile Environment” Harassment?
Harassment is the single most misunderstood employment law claim. Many people think that simply being bullied, yelled at or micro-managed in the workplace automatically gives them a claim for harassment. This is not necessarily so. Whether and to what extent someone may have a claim for harassment depends largely on whether the harassing behavior they are experiencing is because of a protected criteria (e.g., race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, etc.). If a manager is an “equal opportunity jerk” and treats everyone badly, then his/her conduct may not constitute harassment. But if harassing behavior is selectively targeted only at particular groups of employees (e.g., women only), then the harassed employees may have viable legal claims. There are two broad categories of sexual harassment: • Quid pro quo, which occurs when an employer or manager conditions an employment benefit on sex (e.g., “go to bed with me or you’re fired”); and • Hostile work environment, which
