If someone is sexually harassing you at work, you need to understand the legal options available to you. Ideally, you won’t need to take things that far; you would just tell your supervisor or Human Resources, and they will ensure it never happens again. However, experience shows that this is often not the case. Some employers do not believe the victim or have no interest in dealing with the matter. It could also be that your supervisor is the one harassing you, leaving you without an obvious person to report it to.
If you need to file an official complaint at a level above your supervisor, then there are two kinds of sexual harassment claims that you could bring: quid pro quo or a hostile work environment. Understanding the difference can help you take the appropriate path.
1. Quid pro quo harassment
Quid pro quo claims can be brought when the sexual harassment revolves around the offer of an exchange. For example, your line manager is supposed to report you to the boss for a serious error, but they tell you they will forget the error in exchange for you agreeing not to tell anyone about their unwanted touching of you. Or your boss mentions they are thinking of putting you forward for a promotion, but makes it clear that you will have to pass through the equivalent of the Hollywood casting couch to get it.
2. Hostile work environment
A hostile work environment claim does not require the offer of an exchange, so it has a wider scope. Generally, what you need to show is that the person you are accusing has made your work life unpleasant, through harassment based on your sex (gender) that is either severe or pervasive. It might be that they continually brush against you or repeatedly target you with unwanted jokes of a sexual nature. Or it might be that they did a sexual assault of you that makes it hard for you to go to work and carry on as normal.
Reporting either category of sexual harassment claim is rarely straightforward, so it is wise to consider legal guidance to help you navigate the process.
