When New Yorkers are working, they undoubtedly hope that they are in a safe environment. Their safety concerns may range from ensuring that there are no hazardous conditions to remaining safe from unwanted advances from other individuals. Unfortunately, sexual harassment continues to run rampant in many industries, and as a result, numerous individuals may wonder what they could do when confronted with such an issue.
First of all, parties may want to understand what constitutes sexual harassment under the law. Though verbal or physical actions could potentially fall into this category, those actions would need to be “severe or pervasive” in order for them to be deemed harassment. This means that if a person constantly makes inappropriate comments or physical actions or blatantly carries out offensive actions, the victim may have cause to report harassment.
Individuals who have experienced such conduct may wish to speak to their supervisors about the best manner in which to handle the situation. Often, supervisors can take necessary action to address the predicament and make any changes or delegate punishment as needed. If the harassment goes unaddressed after such complaints, victims may have cause to take further action.
If parties feel that they have been the victims of sexual harassment in the workplace, they may hope that the issues will be resolved quickly. However, if they feel that the problems are not being properly handled, they may wish to consider looking into their legal options. In some cases, New York residents have legal grounds to pursue lawsuits against their harassers and their employers in order to have the issues properly addressed.
Source: azcentral.com, “Sexual harassment at work? Here’s what you can do to take action,” Russ Wiles, Oct. 30, 2017
