REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES FOR OVER 25 YEARS
Fair Employment Legal Services, S.C.
Attorney John D. Uelmen
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REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES FOR OVER 25 YEARS Fair Employment Legal Services, S.C. Attorney John D. Uelmen
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Illegal Harassment From a legal standpoint, harassment on the job is a type of discrimination. A person is generally protected by the anti-discrimination laws if he or she is being harassed because his or her age, race, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or other status which is protected by law. Regardless of the reason for the harassment, if the conduct involves physical contact or threats of violence, the harassment may constitute criminal conduct or give rise to a common law claim for assault, battery, or intentional infliction of emotional distress. Sexual harassment is generally illegal if it constitutes deliberate or repeated unsolicited verbal comments, gestures, or physical contact of a sexual nature, or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when (1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a condition of an individual's employment, (2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individuals, or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Courts often look to the definition of sexual harassment to determine whether an employee was illegally harassed for some other prohibited reason. The employer is not always liable for harassment which occurs in the workplace. An employee must generally show that management was aware of the conduct and failed to eliminate the conduct after being given an opportunity to correct the situation. This usually means that the employee must follow any complaint or grievance procedure which the employer has enacted to handle harassment allegations. In some situations, an employee who is subjected to illegal harassment may be able to collect compensatory and punitive damages against his or her employer in addition to lost wages and attorney's fees. The remedies and procedures can be complex and consultation with a legal professional will often be necessary to have any chance of success. |
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