Course Title: Welcome to this course on sexual harassment.

Course Objectives: The main objective of this course is to inform you about sexual
harassment, so that your awareness of this issue will help prevent it. By the end of the course,
you should be able to:

○ Define sexual harassment;

○ Identify harassment behaviors
●
○ Differentiate between and compare the two main kinds of harassment; quid pro
quo harassment and hostile work environment harassment.
○ Understand how to report sexual harassment

2Why You Need to Know: You may ask yourself, why do I need to know about sexual
harassment? You have the right to work in an environment that is free of sexual harassment. If
you and your coworkers understand what it is and why it is harmful, it will help prevent it. We
all have the right to fair treatment at work. Sexual harassment harms everyone, not just the
victim. It undermines the trust and respect necessary for a productive work environment.

And this is not just a woman’s issue—men and women on every level may be either harassers or
victims. You should be able to recognize when someone else is being harassed and know what
you can do to help that person. You also need to be aware of your own actions and avoid
behavior that, while it might seem appropriate or natural to you, might be causing someone else
to feel harassed.

3The Statistics Highlight the Problem: Sexual harassment affects thousands of employees
each year across the U.S. To understand just how widespread the problem is we will look at
some statistics. It is important to realize that these numbers only reflect formal complaints and it
is believed that a vast number of sexual harassment situations go unreported.

In 2019, there were over 7500 reports of sexual harassment, resulting in costs of over 65
million dollars. That’s a lot of money!

4Harassment and the Law: Harassment is not a subjective thing that can be arbitrarily
decided upon by a boss or colleagues at a workplace. It is not up to your employer or your
coworker to decide what constitutes harassment. It is clearly spelled out in the laws that govern
our country.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis
of race, color, national origin, religion, or sex. The courts have interpreted sexual
harassment as a form of sex discrimination that is prohibited under Title VII.

State laws that address civil rights and fair employment practices also prohibit sexual
harassment in the workplace.
First, we’ll watch this video, where a female employee has a few interactions with her
coworkers. I want you to keep an eye out for unusual behaviors.

WATCH VIDEO

Okay, so now that we’ve seen some behaviors, I’m going to break you guys up into 5
breakout rooms of 5 students. I want you guys to discuss what you saw and what you think
about it. Do you think there was evidence of sexual harassment?

AFTER BREAKOUT

All right, so everyone’s back in the main room. Would anyone like to share what they
discussed? Yes, Tom, go ahead. You thought that the male employees were being too sexual
and it seemed like she didn’t like it? We’ll talk more about this.

Let’s take a look at each piece of the definition of sexual harassment.

How Harassment is Defined by the Law: The EEOC defines sexual harassment as sexual
conduct that is unwelcome, harmful, or illegal. We’re going to delve deeper into what each
of these three mean.

Unwelcome: Sexual harassment is conduct that is Unwelcome. This can include overt sexual
advances like cornering someone and leaning in close to kiss them or something less obvious
such as placing your hand on someone’s shoulder or neck. While one person might welcome
this type behavior, it can be harassment for another person, one who DOES NOT WELCOME
the action. It can include requests for sexual favors, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
nature, or displays of sexually explicit or suggestive materials like risque pictures on emails or
on articles of clothing

Harmful: Sexual harassment is conduct that is Harmful. Harmful here not only refers to the
physical, but also the emotional health of the victim. Emotional harm can affect individuals long
after physical wounds might heal. Direct victims of harassment are not the only ones that can
feel the harmful effects of harassment. Witnesses to the conduct also have a legal right in the
matter. Even if the direct recipient of the harassment did not find the action harmful, a bystander
that witnessed the act might, and therefore has the right to file a complaint.

Illegal: Sexual harassment is conduct that is Illegal. Finally, remember that all forms of sexual
harassment are not only offensive and wrong, they are also against the law and will not be
tolerated by the United States government.

Next, we’ll talk about some behaviors that could constitute harassment. Remember that
harassment can be both verbal and non-verbal behaviors.

Two Main Types of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: So we’ve already learned that
sexual harassment is much more than, “If you want this promotion, you’ll have to sleep with
me.” Supervisors, employees, and even customers can be perpetrators, or victims, of sexual
harassment. There are many forms that sexual harassment can take, like… SLIDES

There are, however, two main categories of sexual harassment. They are:

• Tangible Employment Action, and

• Hostile Work Environment

Let’s take a closer look at each on the next slides.

Tangible Employment Action: Tangible employment action is also known as quid pro quo, or
“this for that.” Literally, I will give you this, if you give me that, where “this” refers to some
tangible employment benefit, and “that” refers to sexual favors.

The EEOC states, “A ‘tangible employment action’ means a significant change in

employment status. Examples include hiring, firing, promotion, demotion, undesirable
reassignment, a decision causing a significant change in benefits, compensation
decisions, and work assignment.” In this type of sexual harassment, the victim is the
target of a tangible employment action because he or she refuses a sexual request.

Tangible Employment Action Examples: Examples might include being passed over for a
promotion or a raise for refusing a boss’s sexual advances, or being given a raise after
submitting to a supervisor’s sexual requests. Alternately, a person might be promised a raise
or other job benefit in return for sexual favors. Tangible employment action focuses on the
harm done to the victim rather than on the specific conduct of the harasser.

The employer is automatically liable if a supervisor takes tangible employment

action against an employee.

Hostile Work Environment: A hostile work environment is created when unwelcome sexual
conduct is severe and pervasive and unreasonably interferes with an individual's job
performance and creates an intimidating or offensive work environment.

Hostile Work Environment Examples: The offensive conduct might be aimed specifically at
certain persons, or it might be more generalized throughout the workplace.

This kind of regular and repeated conduct can include items displayed in the workplace
that unreasonably interfere with job performance or that create an intimidating, hostile,
or offensive work environment.

Examples of a hostile work environment include:

Offensive jokes
Slurs, name-calling
Physical assaults or threats
Insults or put-downs
Offensive objects or pictures
Interference with work performance

Reporting - It’s very important to address incidents of sexual harassment immediately. Report
any incident that you reasonably believe is offensive, whether you are the direct target or not. If
you can, respond directly to anyone who is committing sexual harassment, making it clear that
this behavior bothers you.

If it’s uncomfortable for you to address them directly—for example, if the harasser is
your supervisor—report the incident to your supervisor’s manager or to an HR
representative. Record the time, place, and details of the incident, including the names of
any co-workers who might have observed it.

You’ll need to cooperate with the investigations of sexual harassment. Provide any information
you might have about an incident, and do your part to help make the investigation run smoothly
and move as quickly as possible toward a resolution.

In addition, you can help prevent sexual harassment by supporting victims of sexual
harassment as much as possible. Encourage them to report incidents according to
workplace policy and support them throughout the process until it is resolved to
everyone’s satisfaction.

In conclusion, here are the key points you should remember from this training session on
sexual harassment:

Sexual harassment is prohibited, both by law and by workplace policy;

Sexual harassment involves more than just physical conduct; it can also be verbal
or visual;

Sexual harassment harms us all because it takes away from having a

respectful, dignified, and comfortable work environment; and

Finally, you have the power to help prevent sexual harassment. Know the workplace’s
policy, and do your part to confront sexual harassment, report incidents, and support
victims.