Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is a form of employment discrimination and is illegal pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
To qualify for coverage under Title VII, a company must employ at least 15 employees over the previous calendar year. You may be entitled to damages (which can include back pay or lost wages), compensatory damages (emotional distress), punitive damages and attorneys fees.
There are two types of sexual harassment: hostile work environment and tangible employment action harassment. Hostile work environment sexual harassment is defined as conduct that is either severe or pervasive, is because of sex, and alters the conditions of employment. In order to rise to the level necessary to be what is defined as illegal sexual harassment, the conduct must be fairly egregious or it must occur over an extended period of time. Each case is evaluated based on the specific facts of the individual's case, and the facts must be fully developed to determine whether the conduct is sexual harassment. In addition, the conduct complained of must be both subjectively and objectively offensive. This means that the employee must have actually have found the conduct offensive and unwelcome, and reasonably minded individuals similarly-situated with the employee would also have found the conduct offensive.
In a hostile work environment claim, the company has the opportunity to defend the case with an "affirmative defense". An affirmative defense, if proven, defeats the plaintiff's valid claim. For example, a defendant company may be able to defend itself by establishing that it took reasonable steps to prevent harassment from occurring, and that the employee either unreasonably failed to avail herself of the attempts, or she availed herself and the company took prompt remedial action. It has been determined that if the company has a written policy for sexual harassment in place, they have created a presumption that they have taken reasonable steps to prevent harassment from occurring. If the company retaliates against the employee for reporting sexual harassment, the employee may have an additional claim for retaliation under Title VII.
If the harasser has taken a tangible action against the employee, there may be strict liability against the company. A tangible employment action is one which changes the benefits, duties, responsibilities or salary of the employee. If a supervisor, through the power and control vested in him by the company, takes an adverse employment action against the employee, the company can only defend by proving either that the harassment did not occur, or did not rise to the requisite level necessary.
Companies defend sexual harassment claims in a myriad of ways. Defenses include: claiming that the conduct was welcomed by the client, claiming that the sexual harassment which is alleged did not occur or claiming that the harassment was neither severe nor pervasive. The most prevalent defense is that the company did not know about the sexual harassment.
If you believe you have been a victim of sexual harassment, please contact us to discuss your case.
Lowe & Schoolar, P.C. is located in downtown Savannah, Georgia, and serves clients throughout southeast Georgia, including Chatham, Effingham, Bryan, Bulloch, Liberty, McIntosh and Glynn Counties.
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