US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

In 2016 there were 6,758 complaints of sexual harassment filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Most of people spend a large amount of their time at work and during that time they should feel safe. “Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination” (EEOC, "Facts About Sexual Harassment") and so sexual harassment is covered under Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964. Sexual harassment can come in many different forms; so managers need to be able identify when it is happening and how to handle the situation appropriately. If an employee does not feel safe while at work there is a good chance their work output will be decreased as well, so it is important to a manager to make sure that all of their employees

People may think of sexual harassment being and male is harassing a female, but this can often not be the case. Sexual harassment can occur between opposite sex people and people of the same sex. Also the harasser can be a man or a woman and the victim can also be either sex. According to the EEOC in 2016 16.6% of charges of sexual harassment we filed by males. The harassment can be coming from the victim’s supervisor, or it can be coming from an employee in a completely different department. As long as the behavior is not welcome then the act can be classified as harassment. Sexual harassment also does not need to be physical. Sexual harassment can range anywhere from lewd comments and hostile verbal situations to sexual advances and assault. If a manager is able to notice that an employee is uncomfortable with another employee or situation then they should pull them aside to see if there is something more going on that needs to be

This can give a company a bad reputation and make it difficult for them to find and keep good employees. A lawsuit could end up costing a company a lot of money in legal fees and settlements with the victim. In 2016 the EEOC reported that 40.7 million dollars were awarded in monetary benefits from sexual harassment claims. This dollar amount does not include a monetary benefits obtained by victims by means of litigation. At statistic by the EEOC to back up the possible cost a sexual harassment claim could merit is that of the 6,758 total claims presented to the EEOC last year just over 4,000 were thrown out as no reasonable cause. So depending on the situation a sexual harassment claim against the company could in fact cost millions of dollars to resolve between legal fees and possible monetary damages owed to the victim. Due to the possible liability associated with sexual harassment a company needs to know how to handle a situation as well as prevent sexual harassment in the