Sexual+Harassment

Based on rulings by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, sexual harassment can take one of two forms: 1.) it is illegal for someone to request sexual favors as a condition of employment or promotion. If a person does this, the employer is "strictly liable". (Quid pro quo rule.) Strict liability: the employer can be found at fault even if he or she didn't know that a subordinate was requesting sex in exchange for hiring or promotion. 2.) it is illegal for an employee to experience a work environment that has been made hostile or intimidating by a steady pattern of offensive sexual teasing, jokes, or obscenity. Employers are not strictly liable in this case- they can be found at fault only if they were negligent (they knew about the hostile environment but did nothing about it). Sexual harassment is a serious matter, but there are almost no federal laws governing it, we are left with somewhat vague and often inconsistent court and bureaucratic rules governing it.