Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Are Employers Doing Enough?

Sexual harassment has been a prevalent issue throughout our country in recent years, from the office of the President of the United States, to the military services and educational institutions. Even with widespread publicity about the risks of sexual harassment, surveys demonstrate that many businesses operating in the United States have yet to address the problem. Although, the latest reports show that sexual harassment has reached all echelons of management. The concept of sexual harassment has been around since the mid-1970s. Today, both classifications of sexual harassment are claimed against men and women, resulting in potential major losses for a company. The workplace is a place where one should feel comfortable. For this reason, companies have increased their efforts to prevent, reduce, identify and fix any acts of harassment promptly when they occur in the workplace. By companies taking preventive measures helps minimize the likelihood that liability for harassment will be placed on the employer.
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, sexual harassment is a form of discrimination and although it is an offense committed by both females and males in assorted measures, it is predominately committed by males against females (Friedman, Joel, Marcia Mobilia Boumil, and Barbara Ewert Taylor 37). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its Guidelines on Discrimination Because Of Sex in 1980, which stated that sexual harassment violates S 703 of Title VII, and prohibits discrimination in compensation, conditions, or privileges of employment because of an individual 's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This guideline recognized two types of harassment: quid pro quo and hostile-environment sexual harassment (EEOC Compliance Manual). Hostile environment harassment is where a person is subjected to unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature to such an extent

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