Federal EEOC guidelines regarding the Discrimination Because of Sex (29 C.F.R. Section 1604.11) defines two different kinds of sexual harassment:
- Quid pro quo – Quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs when “submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual”.
- Hostile working environment – To be considered a hostile workplace by California employment laws, the presence of harassment must be pervasive (widespread) to the point that the victim(s) and others find abusive and feel threatened. Harassment can be defined as any type of behavior that a reasonable person would view as intimidating, hostile or offensive.
All forms of sexual harassment, including quid pro quo sexual harassment, are illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, to win quid pro quo hostile work environment cases, workers must have experienced severe or pervasive effects on their employment. These in turn then created the hostile workplace environment.
How do you build a strong quid pro quo sexual harassment case? Your employment attorney at Gold Coast Counsel must determine if the sexual conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a quid pro quo hostile work environment. This is the case whether the conduct occurred once or several times. If you have more specific questions about your own circumstances, then please contact one of our Employment Attorney Associates for more information.