Sexual Harassment in the Workplace - Assignment Example

According to Equal Rights Advocates, sexual harassment is defined as “unwelcome verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is severe or pervasive and affects working conditions or creates a hostile work environment.” When reading this definition it is difficult to understand how people would do this within the workplace, but it is important to understand that this happens regularly. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) states that in 2008, 13,867 cases of sexual harassment were received by them and 11,731 of those cases were resolved; 15.9% of these cases were filed by men.

The Alliance Training and Consulting group found that in 2010, there were 11,717 cases filed with the EEOC and the eventual resolution of cases cost companies $48.4 million in damages. These statistics show that sexual harassment is not only a problem for the people who experience sexual harassment, but it also is very costly to the companies that are involved. The challenge for many companies is that they do not know that there is a training available for their employees which can help them resolve some of these issues before they begin.

According to Pamela Mahabeer, a writer for AOL Jobs, although seminars are done to teach people about sexual harassment, it still is happening. . Ellie Mystal, a writer for Above The Law, states that many men file sexual harassment claims when they are fired from a job because they are seeking a reason for their firing; many of these cases claimed that men were sexually harassed by other men. Another issue with sexual harassment is that it can be claimed that it creates a hostile work environment.

To claim that this happens, it must meet two criteria: First, what is going on must be “subjectively abusive” to the person or persons affected and it must be “objectively severe or pervasive enough” to create an environment that other people would also find abusive (“Preventing”). This can happen in many instances and this often indicates that there are many incidences of sexual harassment that are being ignored, or that it is a constant harassment that happens over time.

Sexual harassment is a very important issue in the workplace that needs to be challenged when it happens so that everyone can be in a safe environment when they are working. Works Cited Alliance Training and Consulting.