Legal Specs

A Deeper View on Sexual Harassment

30 Mar 2007

In the United States, around 15,000 cases of sexual harassment are filed in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) every year. These unruly sex discrimination acts by a higher authority such as the employers are covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law pertains to labor institutions, employment agencies and also the federal government. Its scope covers the employers having fifteen or more workers under his supervision.

Sexual harassment deals with cases involving unwanted sexual moves and sexual favors among others. In the workplace, these acts can be brought to the EEOC for appropriate lawsuit if these put much effect to the employee such as interference in one's work, intimidation, threat, or being engaged in an unpleasant working condition. These harassment incidents have many variations. In fact, it not necessarily means that the victim is always a woman and the aggressor, a man. Same thing as it may occur in cases such that both the victim and the harasser are in the same sex. Most of the times the aggressor has a great authority over the sufferer but there are even occasions that they belong to the same level of work. Moreover, these objectionable acts may come in the form of verbal expressions of sexual desire and not always physical exploitations which may lead to extreme and forcible sexual act.

For a sexual harassment case to gain merits in the court, the accuser must first prove that the sexual violation is unwelcome and in intense cases, the act was done in a violent manner. This means that anyone filing a case suit should be aware that he or she must have informed the assailant, in any way, the he or she is against the person's malicious act. This is quite important because the EEOC examines such accusations in a holistic approach when doing investigative efforts to resolve these issues. They conduct thorough analysis on both party's assertions and other factual information and evidences which have involvement on the case in order to uphold justice.

Nonetheless, it is much better to prevent the occurrence of these incidents in the workplaces. Much to be aware of, employers have the obligation to carry out their duties of providing their workers a safe and amiable place to perform their work and to prevent sexual harassment cases from happening. They, too, should make it clear to their workers that sexual aggression is indeed prohibited in his company by conducting seminars about the topic, setting up an efficient help desk which will hear and resolve the complaints of employees regarding sexual harassment.

The complexities of the law and the intricate court procedure may jeopardize the possibility of obtaining justice. This is why it is still much practical to ask the assistance of a credible labor lawyer to provide support in any legal undertakings such as filing a sexual harassment suit. An expert and steadfast lawyer to handle a victim's case may be more likely to gain favor in the court's resolution of his case.


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