When many people think of sexual harassment they think of someone making sexual comments or touching someone else in an obvious sexual manner, and yes these things are sexual harassment, which is a very serious problem. According to a poll done by ABC news, one in four women in the United States reports sexual harassment in the workplace. There are other things that can be thought of as sexual harassment, however, that you may not be aware of, which are listed below.
Simple Touch
If you walk by someone and give them a simple pat on the back, they can go to their manager and say you sexually harassed them. You could shake someone on the hand and look directly in their eyes, and that person may see it as something that really bothers them, and go to their boss claiming you touched them inappropriately.
This does depend on the person, however. Someone else that you pat on the back or shake hands with may have no problem with it at all, so it is not considered sexual harassment with that person.
In December 2006, a female accused a four year old boy in Waco, Texas of sexual harassment. The school punished the child by giving him in-school suspension. The sexual harassment came from a female aide that accused him of this when he hugged her while he was getting on his school bus. Later, the sexual references were expunged and changed to inappropriate physical contact from the boy's school record.
Staring
In Birschtein v. New United Motor Manufacturing a court held that staring could possibly be considered actionable sexual harassment.
It is easy to daydream and stare off in one direction, and it may seem that person is staring at someone else when they really are not. The person they were "staring at," however, could go to their boss and say they were sexually harassed.
There are times when staring is obvious sexual harassment, such as in the case cited above, or when a person seems to be staring at a certain part of the body, but in other cases, it is just simple staring and that is all.
Before you tell someone that they look nice, ask them if it is okay that you do so first. If you want to tell an off colored joke, ask the person or people you are telling the joke to if they will have any offense to it. You need to be mindful of what you do towards other people just in case you are accused of this crime.
To learn more, contact a sexual harassment attorney like Davis George Mook.
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