Sexual harassmentSexual harassment in the workplaceI. DefinitionSexual harassment is a form of sexual discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when you submit to or refuse such conduct. explicitly or implicitly an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's job performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following: The victim as well as the harasser can be a woman or a man. The victim must not be of the opposite sex. In the case Oncale v. Sundowner, the U.S. Supreme Court just this month ruled unanimously that homosexual complaints are covered by the law. The harasser may be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee. The victim does not have to be the person being harassed, but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.¨ Unlawful sexual harassment can occur without financial harm or termination of the victim. The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome. It is becoming increasingly rare to find the traditional “quid pro quo” sexual harassment charge. The current trend is for a “hostile work environment” which can be much more difficult for the employer to deal with. The EEOC considers the following factors to determine whether or not an environment is sexually hostile: Whether the behavior was verbal or physical or both How often it was repeated Whether the behavior was hostile or overtly offensive Whether the alleged harasser was a co-worker or a supervisor If others joined in the behavior perpetrating the harassment and if the harassment was directed at more than one individual. No one factor controls, but an evaluation is made based on the totality of the circumstances. II. Regarding employees, it is useful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the behavior is not welcome and must stop. However, it is not always necessary for a victim of harassment to directly confront their harasser, as long as their conduct demonstrates that the harasser's behavior is unwelcome. Victim says… middle of paper… the employer will be liable if it encourages or discourages workers from entering into relationships that could go sour and cause problems at work later. These are complicated problems and there are no hard and fast answers. Relationships continually develop in work areas and always will. On a personal level, before committing to someone at work, there are consequences that should be taken into consideration. Again, there have been many successful marriages, so it's not necessarily taboo. If you are in a management position, you should be prepared to handle the complications that may arise when one of these relationships goes sour and affects job performance. For example, Michael's boss could have handled the situation better. He actually made the decision to move Mary. Michael only recommended the move. Maybe he should have told Michael that he should be the one to leave. As the political makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court changes and decisions determining what constitutes sexual harassment change, HR leaders must be ready to adapt and change with those swings. Sexual harassment is just one of the myriad issues that need to be addressed.