What is Sexual Harassment?

You’re at work and a man - maybe your boss - says something sexual to you. It feels creepy. You feel gross. And now you feel less confident at work. The next morning you wake up and do not want to go to work. You may wonder, have I been sexually harassed? Should I report it? Should I just stay quiet and put up with it? Should I leave and find another job? Ugh! These are hard questions - questions that you should not have to be asking yourself because no one should be saying something creepy and sexual to you at work. But, the reality is that this happens all too often.

And the definition of sexual harassment in the law might be different than how you think about sexual harassment. There is not even a clear definition of what is and is not sexual harassment because it depends on so many different things. Jokes might be sexual harassment, but they might not be. Touching might be sexual harassment - or assault - but it might not be. Sexual advances or sexual comments might be sexual harassment, but they might not be. As is true for many things in the law, this is not easy to navigate. But it is important to navigate it. It’s important for many reasons - so you can get help, so the employer knows what is going on and hopefully will stop it, so whoever is doing the sexual harassment (or creepy thing) is stopped, and so this does not happen to you again and it does not happen to anyone else either.

Sexual harassment attorneys know how to navigate the complex questions, consider the options, and help you make strategic and thoughtful decisions. They also know how to help you hold employers accountable. Depending on what happened, it might be important to call the police. Who knows?! We do.