What Is Quid Pro Quo Harassment?
When a job benefit is directly tied to an employee submitting to unwelcome sexual advances, it is called Quid-Pro-Quo sexual harassment. For example, a supervisor promises an employee a raise if she will go out on a date with him, or tells an employee she will be fired if she doesn’t sleep with him. Only individuals with supervisory authority over a worker can engage in quid-pro-quo harassment, since it requires the harasser to have the authority to grant or withhold job benefits. If quid-pro-quo harassment occurs, the employer is strictly liable for the supervisor’s actions. This means that the victim does not need to prove that the employer knew or should have known of the harassment, as is the case in a “hostile environment” case.
