Legal Definitions - sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination based on sex that involves unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. This conduct becomes illegal when it affects a person's employment or educational opportunities, or when it creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment.

Specifically, sexual harassment occurs when:

• A person's acceptance or rejection of sexual advances or requests for sexual favors is used as a basis for decisions about their job, such as hiring, promotions, or firing. This is often referred to as a "this for that" situation.
• The unwelcome sexual conduct is so severe or frequent that it creates a work or learning environment that a reasonable person would find intimidating, hostile, or offensive, and it interferes with a person's ability to perform their job or participate in their education.

It's important to understand that the person experiencing harassment and the harasser can be of any gender. The harasser could be a supervisor, a coworker, a client, a customer, or even someone not directly employed by the organization, such as a vendor or a student.

Here are some examples to illustrate different forms of sexual harassment:

• Example 1: A marketing manager tells an employee that if they want to be considered for an upcoming promotion, they need to "be more friendly" and agree to go out for drinks with the manager after work. The employee feels pressured because they believe their career advancement depends on accepting these unwelcome invitations.

  This illustrates sexual harassment because the manager is implicitly making submission to unwelcome sexual advances (going out for drinks) a condition for an employment decision (the promotion). The employee's rejection of this conduct could be used as a basis to deny them the promotion.

• Example 2: In an office setting, a group of coworkers frequently shares explicit images and tells graphic sexual jokes in a shared workspace, despite a colleague repeatedly expressing discomfort and asking them to stop. The colleague finds it difficult to concentrate on their tasks and feels anxious coming to work due to the constant exposure to this offensive behavior.

  This demonstrates sexual harassment because the repeated verbal and visual conduct of a sexual nature is unwelcome and creates a hostile and offensive work environment. It unreasonably interferes with the colleague's ability to perform their job effectively.

• Example 3: A university student is repeatedly sent unsolicited, sexually suggestive messages and images by another student in their class through social media and email. The messages make the student feel unsafe and distressed, impacting their ability to focus on their studies and participate comfortably in class discussions.

  This is an example of sexual harassment in an educational context. The unwelcome digital communication of a sexual nature creates an intimidating and offensive learning environment, interfering with the student's educational experience and well-being.