California workers like you deserve safe work environments, free from harassment of all sorts. Many workplaces promise to protect you from these malicious and potentially dangerous behaviors.
Unfortunately, not all of them follow through. Many workplaces do not offer true protection from harassment. This reflects in the amount of people who suffer from harassing behaviors at work every day.
Physical sexual harassment
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission discloses types of sexual harassment at work. Physical sexual harassment often garners the most attention in press stories. Physical sexual harassment can involve anything from assault to groping. It includes any sort of unwanted physical contact. This may even extend to a perpetrator touching the victim’s hair or hands without their consent.
Non-physical sexual harassment
There is also non-physical sexual harassment. This category is a bit more broad and includes many types of verbal harassment. Examples include:
- An employer withholding promotions or threatening firing if the victim does not grant sexual favors
- An employer requesting sexual favors in exchange for raises or promotions
- Employees spreading malicious rumors about a victim’s sex life
- Employees catcalling or making lewd remarks about a victim
In fact, non-physical sexual harassment can include matters that have nothing to do with sex. It also includes gender-based discrimination and harassment. For example, a male co-worker tells his female co-worker to go make him a sandwich. This condescending remark centers on gender inequality. As such, it could count as sexual harassment.
Workers who suffer through any form of sexual harassment deserve compensation. This is why many people in your situation decide to pursue damages for their undue hardships at work.