Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

When we work, we don’t always want to hear the rude and inappropriate jokes that people make and don’t really care to hear about someone’s sexual conquest. That can cause many problems in the workplace alone. Sometimes, this can be taken to the next level and instead of a joke, it becomes directed toward someone and can wind up involve comments in the inappropriate nature toward the opposite sex. Such was a case of Daphne.

Daphne from Washington writes:

I work for a prestigious marketing company and I have been working there for 6 years. Recently my manager has been hinting to me that he is “interested” in me and has been making jokes in front of me. The other week, I was bending over and he grabbed my butt and told me that he would love to see her naked. I have denied his requests many times before but this is getting serious. What are my rights as an employee? I don’t want to lose my job but I don’t want to be harassed. What do I do?

Daphne, first off you are going to want to write down the experience step by step. Remember the details of the incident and you are going to type this on a computer. Save it to the computer and print out a copy. This way you have an original and a copy. You are then going to have to report the incident to the higher ranking official. Since it was the manager, you are going to have to set up with a meeting with your manager’s superior. After you have reported it, you’re going to start a sort of paper trail that is going to have to write down your meetings with that official. This is what you are going to use if the case is going to have to go further. In most cases, the higher supervisor is going to fire the manager after he or she get all the facts. If not, you are going to be able to have all the documentation of your meetings.

After you have filed, reported, and gotten a response and you have no agreement, you are going to want to know your rights to what you should do further. Some of your rights as someone who has gotten sexually harassed are:

• You can file without getting fired – Any company that fires you for making a true claim of sexual harassment cannot fire you or give you a leave of absence. You have every right to claim the charges and you will be able to see the bad employee that can’t keep his actions elsewhere dealt with accordingly. You are going to have the right to be protected from any harmful acts that may occur.
• Hire an attorney – It is your right as an employee to sue the company for having this happen and not dealing with it in a timely manner. Hopefully the company will seal up the issue quickly and spare you any emotional trauma it might cause you to have to deal with his issue. Making sure that you are going to have backup when you need it is going to be comforting in the end.
• Right to have the employee terminated – Believe it or not, you have the right to require that the harasser be relieved from his duties and fired. In your lawsuit, you are going to be able to make sure that he or she will not be able to harass you at work any longer. When you do this, you are setting the example of everyone who has had this happened by the same person. You are not the first and if you don’t do something, you won’t be the last.

You have to maintain your patience when dealing with this. In many cases, you can suggest that you be moved to a different area while you wait for a decision and you will be able to have the right ending to your horrible ordeal. When people are sexually harassed, it is normal for them to freeze up and do nothing to help themselves. It is a horrible thing that happened to you and you are going to have to keep it all together when you are going through all of the mess. If the actions are not dealt with in a timely manner, then you are going to have to hire an attorney. You will be able to get your questions answered in more detail and be able to get on with your life. Good luck to you and may your case be swift and rewarding.

[podcast]http://www.lawadvicenow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace.mp3[/podcast]