Sexual Harassment Cases

The term “sexual harassment” has been in the news a lot lately. For a while, we couldn’t turn on the TV or go to our favorite news site without hearing about another prominent actor, musician, or politician being accused of harassing or even assaulting multiple women. Hashtags like #timesup and #metoo became a big part of the movement to hold men accountable, a movement that some people felt was long overdue and that others worry has gone too far. It’s a good idea to get educated on what exactly sexual harassment is, and the various forms it can take. There are plenty of people who claim that they “didn’t know” that what they were doing was abusive or wrong, but that’s not really considered a valid excuse in the year 2018.

Quid pro quo

The legal field loves to use obscure Latin terms, and one of its favorites is “quid pro quo.” It means “something for something.” We do quid pro quo things for each other all the time. If your brother wants you take a look at his car and see what’s wrong, you might agree as long as he cooks you your favorite meal. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but it can be abused in the workplace if, for instance, a boss heavily implies that a young woman’s chances at a promotion depend on her willingness to perform sexual favors for her boss. This kind of arrangement is known as the “casting couch” in Hollywood, an industry that is notoriously shallow and often doesn’t care how good an actor a woman is if she doesn’t also look like a supermodel. The “casting couch” can affect men as well, but women are far more likely to be expected to sleep with someone in order to get a starring role in a movie or TV show, or even in a commercial for diet soda. A woman in Hollywood who feels like she’s been the victim of the casting couch is free to speak with a Los Angeles sexual harassment lawyer and see if she has a case. The company that employed the sexual harasser may be liable in cases like this depending on the role the harasser held, and depending on if the company known or “should have known” what was going on.

A hostile work environment

You might hear a coworker say they have a “hostile work environment” because they have to ask the office manager for pens rather than just go to the supply drawer, but that’s not at all what that term means. It’s a specific term for a specific set of circumstances. In the case of sexual harassment, a woman who goes to work and hears lewd comments about her body from coworkers all day might very well have a potential civil suit. The comments don’t have to be things like, “I want to sleep with you,” either; comments that call someone gross and sexually unappealing can also be considered a hostile work environment. Two coworkers who engage in a mutual flirtation are not sexually harassing each other, though.

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