Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. Federal law as well as various state fair-employment laws prohibit employers with 15 or more employees from treating members of one sex or race differently from members of the opposite sex or another race in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. The statutory and regulatory laws govern the entire employment process from pre-employment activities such as recruiting, through an employee's career with the organization, including termination. The prohibition against sex discrimination imposes responsibility upon employers to afford their employees an environment free from sexual harassment and from the fear that it may occur.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) can file lawsuits on behalf of victims of sexual harassment, women who take their accusations to court face even bigger obstacles than mere public disapproval. The legal process is long and cumbersome - it can be years from the first complaint to the final verdict and in the meanwhile, the woman is in a legal, professional and often financial limbo. Women are not entitled to collect damages under the Civil Rights Act - just back pay; so many women don't see this process as worth the trouble. Even those, however, who do file a complaint and win a harassment case, may feel lost. Though, Title VII offers reinstatement to previous job, the individual may be shunned or harassed by co-worker thus making conditions even more uncomfortable than they were beforehand. Common law tort lawsuits, such as intentional infliction of emotional distress and assault and battery, provide a remedy in certain types of sexual harassment cases that is totally dependent of any of the statutes and governmental agencies. However, the solutions proposed might seem comprehensive in plans to lessen sexual harassment in the workplace and punishment of harassers, women still face formidable obstacles in preventing harassment from continuing. The proposed measures fail to cover all aspects of harassment, though the truth is, it is virtually impossible to formulate a plan to do so.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits most of the discrimination and harassment in the workplaces. The provision of the Title VII covers all the state, local government, private employees as well as educational institutions that have at least 15 employees or more. The Act prohibits any discrimination that may be meted against the individuals on the basis of the origin, religion, sex, color, race, and national origin (http://topics.hrhero.com/title-vii-of-the-civil-rights-act-of-1964/).
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has grown over the past few decades to ensure that employees, as well as employers, are protected against all employment discrimination. It is extremely important that both employers and employees know and understand what the law means and how to handle such acts of discrimination. As more amendments are passed into law, employers need to have clear and concise policies to help fight against discrimination.
Despite legislation for equal opportunities, sexism is still evident in the workplace. Women have made great advancements in the workforce and have become an integral part of the labor market. They have greater access to higher education and as a result, greater access to traditionally male dominated professions such as law. While statistics show that women are equal to men in terms of their numbers in the law profession, it is clear however, that they have not yet achieved equality in all other areas of their employment. Discrimination in the form of gender, sex and sexual harassment continues to be a problem in today’s society.
According to Bennett-Alexander & Hartman (2015) in order to determine the severity of the sexual harassment, the perspective must be obtained from the reasonable person standard (usually a male or gender neutral) or reasonable victim standard, which is viewing from the victim’s perspective (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2015). The reasonable victim standard was issued as a policy by EEOC in order to be fair and obtain the woman’s perspective or reasonable woman (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2015). Both of the standards mentioned are not intended to favor one gender more than the other, but rather create a gender-conscious examination of sexual harassment (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2015). Thus, it is the employer’s responsibility to make the
“Title IX is a law passed in 1972 that requires gender equity for boys and girls in every educational program that receives federal funding” (“History”, Part. 2). Title IX covers 10 different aspects of gender equality (“History” Par. 3 ). The different aspects are: Access to Higher Education, Career Education, Education for Pregnant and Parenting Students, Employment, Learning Environment, Math and Science, Standardized Testing and Technology, Sexual Harassment. One of the hardest areas to regulate is sexual harassment and assault because once it occurs there isn’t a lot you can do for the victim.
Anita Hill gave women hope, but none of this would have happened if she had not have had the courage to speak up about the sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas. Even though the EEOC had defined sexual harassment as sexual discrimination ten years prior to the initial accusation, women were afraid to speak up about it. Sexual harassment was viewed as a victim’s probl...
Today, the EEOC receives more than 16,000 sexual harassment complaints in a year. This is hardly the amount of situations that happen. 95% of sexual harassment incidents are left unreported! We cannot follow in our government?s footsteps down this road. Our so-called Congress is the worse place to work in dealing with sexual harassment. Until 1994, they were not under compliance with any laws for the protection of workers in the workplace. Even the regulations of 1994 did not provide strict enforcement so the problem remains. Statistics have shown that in the Supreme Court one-third of the people has been a victim of some form of sexual harassment. A member of Congress harassed one in nine of these persons! 42% of women and 15% of men in the federal government have reported sexual harassment. Do you think our government does a great job of covering up things?
Sexual harassment can be described as any unwanted sexual comments or unwanted sexual advances. People think that in a sexual harassment situation that the offender is always a male but that is not the case, females can also be the harasser. There can be several incidents where a male is sexually harassing a female, female harassing a male, female harassing a female, or a male harassing a male. When sexual harassment occurs it can make any situation uncomfortable, especially if the advances are unwelcome.
Why should Lael get involved in reporting if she has not experienced any of the allegations the other employees are making?
Sexual Harassment is first traced from the Middle Ages in the feudal era, custom stipulated that all vassals or serfs were required to give their brides to satisfy their masters sexually. The only way this could be avoided was where the bride or the bridegroom paid a specific amount of produce in redemption dues. While this may seem different from sexual harassment on the job, in fact, in feudal times, the feudal lord was the employer of his vassals and serfs, and their brides became his sexual property. The masters appear to have enforced this custom regularly and with great enthusiasm.
Women have faced sexual assault and harassment for generations, but have received little attention or justice. Because several powerful men facing allegations and in some cases losing their jobs as a result, these issues are having a moment in the spotlight. This should not be a trendy issue that people quickly forget, however. It is a deeply serious one that has great economic and social costs. As a result, sexual assault and harassment should be addressed with harsher punishment and greater education about what is acceptable behavior.
gives all of us the right to be treated fairly and to take action if
Sexual harassment is defined as the form of discrimination in 1970s. Employers can be sued by the victims at the workplace. Organization and manager are the persons who are mainly affected by this type of issue. In a working environment, these types of activities not only reduce the productivity and lowers the morale if the people, but also the reputation of the organization (Fitzgerald and Serra, 1990). The term sexual harassment is assigned specifically to the working class. It has now become an international phenomenon in cultural and occupational aspects. It is purely based on gender discrimination and unequal power relations between men and women. It is considered a serious issue at as the case of occupational hazard and human
Harassment and discrimination claims are due to lack of education about the subject. As an independent human resources consultant, Santiago-Santos will organize a local education campaign and provide employers with different trainings to educate them and their employees about harassment and discrimination. Employers will have a better understanding on how to develop internal policies and procedures to address these claims. Also, trainings will be provided for employees and they will be educated on how to prevent and identify harassment and discrimination as well as what steps to take in order to report such behavior.
Sexual harassment in the workplace has been a huge problem in recent history. It can happen to anyone, and it can happen everywhere. It can affect all types of races, genders and ages. Statistics today show that more and more sexual harassment has become an issue due to the large number of cases presented. Mainstream media becomes consumed covering sexual harassment because of the high-profile cases.