Sexual Harassment

Every person is entitled to a harassment-free workplace. Sexual harassment and sex discrimination can profoundly affect an employee at the workplace, cause severe emotional stress, anxiety, depression, job growth and family disruption at home, and in severe cases, long term trauma and even suicide.

Despite widespread awareness, and laws prohibiting sexual harassment on the books for decades, sexual harassment continues to occur at the workplace. Often times an employee is hesitant to report sexual harassment because of fear of job loss and income, damage to relationship with employer and co-workers, fear of future employment, fear of not being believed, fear of victim blaming, personal disruption of life, stigma, etc. However, confronting a sexual harasser is far better than succumbing to sexual harassment and living in fear, anxiety and depression

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits sexual harassment at the workplace. Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature where (1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, (2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

The LAD also prohibits the employer form retaliating against any person for complaining or reporting sexual harassment, cooperating in an investigation of sexual harassment. That is, you need not be the victim of sexual harassment. If you make a good faith complaint that another employee is being sexually harassed, it is unlawful for the employer to retaliate against you in any manner.

There are two (2) types of sexual harassment: (1) Quid Pro Quo Harassment and (2) Hostile Work Environment.

Quid Pro Quo is defined as “a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something.” For example, your boss (supervisor) tells you he or she will give you a benefit (pay raise, time off, promotion, hiring, etc.) if you submit to his/her sexual advances.

Hostile Work Environment is unwanted, unwelcome and pervasive conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment, such as sexually offensive jokes and comments, staring/leering, inappropriate touching, sexual propositions, sharing sexually explicit materials, etc.

What to do if you or someone else becomes a victim of sexual harassment.

1. Report it to a supervisor or HR. If the supervisor is doing the harassment, report it to HR. The report should be in writing via email, text, etc. If the report (complaint) is verbal, and there are no witnesses, it would be difficult to prove sexual harassment as it would be a “he-say, she-say” situation.
2. Keep a diary of all instances of sexual harassment, including date, time, locations, witnesses present, and description of the harassment.
3. Keep all physical evidence of sexual harassment, whether emails, text messages or video evidence of comments/statements, etc. New jersey is a one-party consent state and, as such, you can record anyone’s conversation via iPhone or any other recording devices so long as you are present during the conversation.

The employer has a legal obligation to prevent sexual harassment and to thoroughly investigate all complaints of sexual harassment. The employer is required to provide a safe and professional work environment within which all employees can work peacefully without being harassed. Under New Jersey law, the employer must establish an anti-harassment policy, which provides guidance for employees as to what constitutes sexual harassment, how to report sexual harassment, as well as protection against retaliation for reporting sexual harassment. If the employer failed to establish or follow its own sexual harassment policy, it may be liable for sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is sensitive issue. Should you require our assistance, give us a call.