In regards to law enforcement, “[s]exual harassment in policing experienced by female officers includes improper touching, sexist and racist comments, having their personal property destroyed, and having sexual materials (e.g., pornography) placed on their desks” (Gunnison, Bernat, Goodstein, 2017, p. 209). Furthermore, three categories of sexual harassment, hostile environment, quid pro quo sexual harassment, and gender harassment, are often distinguished in reference to workplace. Hostile environment harassment can be described as any unwelcome sexual behavior that interferes with an employee’s ability to perform his or her work. Examples of hostile environment include sexual comments, touching or/and requests for sexual favors that create intimidating work environment. Nick Berens in his article, “Former Police Officer Sues Department for Sexual Harassment”, depicts a story of Dana Looper, a former police officer in the Algood Police Department, Tennessee. Looper was a good employee “received promotions and had a good employment record, but she was always aware of inappropriate sexual comments or slurs targeting her or other female officers.” She made a complaint to the supervisors but she was ignored. Soon after, with a rank of sergeant, she was fired for the reason of not properly performing duties and insubordination. Consequently, “she filed a federal lawsuit alleging a pattern of " discriminatory conduct, improper sexual advances, sexual and racial harassment and
Hostile Environment is essentially sexual harassment in which a hostile work environment is created where an employee is subject to unwelcome verbal or physical bullying and sexual behavior that is severe and pervasive. As the law suggests, petty slights, annoyances and isolated incidents will not rise to the level of illegality, but if the environment is persistent and recurring then it constitutes a Hostile Work Environment.
The accuser had alleged that her supervisor constantly subjected her to sexual harassment both during and after business hours, on and off the employer's premises; she alleged that he forced her to have sexual intercourse with him on numerous occasions, fondled her in front of other employees, followed her into the women's restroom and exposed himself to her, and even raped her on several occasions. She alleged that she submitted for fear of jeopardizing her employment. She testified, however, that this conduct had ceased almost a year before she first complained in any way, by filing a Title VII suit, her EEOC charge was filed later (see infra at n.34). The supervisor and the employer denied all of her allegations and claimed they were fabricated in response to a work dispute.
Any employee who feels that he or she has been subjected to sexual harassment should immediately contact the Human Resources Department for investigation and corrective action. Protection from retaliation will be provided and confidentiality will be provided as much as reasonably possible. Any employee who witnesses someone engaging in what could be deemed as sexually harassing conduct is obligated to notify the Human Resources Department even if the victim says that they can handle it or that they can take care of it themselves. Sexual harassment is an illegal act and must be reported and investigated just like any other illegal activity.
In regards to the criteria constituting cases hostile environments as sexual harassment and sex discrimination, it is important to perceive the level of the alleged hostility in order to analyze whether or not it is a form of sexual harassment and sex discrimination. There are several elements to examine in order to determine the level of the alleged hostility within the workforce. The first element used to determine the level of hostility, as explained in Harris v. Forklifts Systems, is the severity or pervasiveness of the comments or behavior from the alleged offender. This element is essential to help determine what path the case will commence to take. The standard for this element is that in order to claim sexual harassment and/or sex discrimination,
In 2011, Tanisha Ross-Paige, a former St. Louis police officer, filed a lawsuit against her former supervisor (Bigelow, 2014). Among other things, she claimed that Sergeant Steven Gori created and posted a mock “wanted” poster of Ross-Paige for having the “baddest body in St. Louis”. He also asked her to take off her bullet proof vest so he could, “See what she was working with”. She filed a complaint but afterwards Gori and a lieutenant put her on bad shifts, wrote different reviews for her than that of other officers, and denied her requests for time off. An original claim for racial discrimination was thrown out by the court; however, the city of St. Louis settled the lawsuit for $7.5 million. It may
Sexual harassment in a workplace or professional setting is known as making of an unwanted sexual past or obscene remarks. Harassment normally occur to women in the workplace. Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964 (U.S EEOC, 2017). There has been many lawsuits or court cases regarding sexual harassment in workplaces today. Some cases are hard to analyze because of the different type of harassment situations.
Erdreich, B. L., Slavet, B. S., & Amador, A. C.. Sexual harassment in the federal workplace: Trends, progress, continuing challenges. 1995
Like employment discrimination, sexual discrimination is something both male and female officers’ face in the workforce, internally and externally. However, it is the female officer that is the more common victim to this rather than their male counterpart. An example of internal sexual discrimination would be a male officer telling there counterpart that “women have no right being in part of an organization that strongly relies on men to get the job done.” This may also be known as a form of sexual harassment toward a co-worker which is unacceptable in any job. An example of external sexual discrimination would be when a female officer arrives to the scene of a crime and the victim refuses to cooperate with them because of the fact that they were expecting assistance from someone of more masculinity, like a male officer. Ethically, if any of these scenarios were to happen to either gender of law enforcement, the best thing to do once more is set aside all emotions for the time being.
Harassment has plagued the world for centuries. Why should the workplace be any different? Sexual harassment and workplace violence are not only of historical roots, but contemporary issues are still present in the workforce today. Managers are addressing and combating modern sexual harassment and workplace violence, however instances still occur (Robbins, Decenzo & Coulter, 2011).
Sexual harassment is a demeaning practice, one that constitutes a profound affront to the dignity of the employees forced to endure it. By requiring an employee to contend with unwelcome sexual actions or explicit sexual demands, sexual harassment in the workplace attacks the dignity and self-respect of the victim both as an employee and as a human being. Sexual harassment is well defined as an unwelcome sexual request for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. In many countries, sexual harassment is considered a form of sexual abuse and employment discrimination. Sexual harassment is most prevalent is organizations both professional and academic, though it can occur almost anywhere.
Among many obstacles faced by female police officers in the male subjugated profession, sexual harassment and discrimination are the cruelest forms of gender inequalities in policing. During initial days of women in policing, sexual harassment at the workplace was never considered as illegal or
Harassment has no boundaries when it comes to race, age, or gender. As mentioned previously, there are sometimes underlying problems when it comes to lower-status positions and high-status positions. Power can be dangerous in the hands of the wrong person and can often be said in the workplace where power can lead to sexual harassment. Debbie Dougherty, an assistant professor of communication in the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia, did an assessment based on opinions and perceptions of 23 participants. The study was focused around the question “why does sexual harassment occur?” and the most common answer that came up was “power.” One thing Debbie noticed was the fact that men and women had different opinions
Organizations have an obligation to create a harassment free environment for its employees. Harassment doesn’t have to be of a sexual nature. An organization is liable if the harassment is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in adverse employment actions such as the victim being fired, demoted, or transferred. Harassing a person based on their sex is illegal. Sexual harassment has a great impact on an employee’s productivity as well as poses a major impact on an organization’s finances in litigation.
Another form of sexual harassment is a hostile work environment. The hostile environment theory involves sexual advances between the supervisor and the employee. An employee’s work performance will be less effective due to these so-called sexual advances. However, a victim can file a complaint against their harasser so that they do not continuously force them to participate. Consequently, they will be forced to hand in their resignation. [This is an issue of power and has nothing to do with sex. For this reason, both male and females can be the harasser. The harasser’s main purpose is to force another to feel or act in a certain way. Sometimes, sexual harassment causes an individual from effectively performing his/her job. As a result, is undermines an individual’s dignity. In our society, there are three essential factors that relate to the issue of sexual advances. These elements are a divergence of perceptions, the complexity of human behavior and the attitudes of a sexist.]
In this research paper I would fully discuss what sexual harassment. I will start on the origin of sexual harassment and how it came into law. I will discuss what environment of sexual harassment looks like in the work place. The reader should be able to discover the different types of sexual harassment: Quid pro quo and Indirect. I will show you illustrated trends of sexual harassment in the work place over the years. I will discuss how sexual harassment affect both parties, meaning the employer and the employee. I will back up theses affects by laws that are set in place to protect the employee and hold the employer responsible. I will give an analysis on recent litigation involving sexual harassment in the workplace. In my conclusion I will give a recommendation on how to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and what management can to protect their employees.