Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment issues first appeared in law in the 1970's, when
women and their lawyers began arguing that various kinds of sexual
behavior resulted in the exclusion of or discrimination against
women. This was illegal because it violated the US Civil Rights
Act of 1964. Courts began to rule in agreement with this position
in the late 70's. In 1980, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
declared that sexual harassment was illegal because it discriminated
against women.
The EEOC also defined what constituted sexual harassment. Sexual
harassment is any unwelcome sexual conduct that occurs in the workplace
or school. Sexual harassment can be divided into two basic types,
harassment that creates an unpleasant environment, and 'quid pro
quo' harassment. Quid pro quo refers to the practice of offering
employment or advancement in exchange for sex or sexual favors.
Harassment that creates an unpleasant environment can include behavior
such as sexist jokes, repetitive requests for sex, inappropriate
touching, continued staring, the displaying of pornographic materials,
or anything else that can be proved to create a "hostile work
environment." Sexual harassment suits target the complainant's
employer, so there are concerns that the accuser will face retaliation
for accusing her superiors. For this reason, there exist laws that
protect the rights of an accusing employee. Employers cannot fire
or demote an employee because of a sexual harassment lawsuit. For
more information about sexual harassment law, you can visit http://employment-law.freeadvice.com/sexual_harassment/
or http://law.about.com/cs/sexualharassment/.