This is a serious yet underrated national issue. People think sexual harassment has no place inside offices whereas according to stats, 1 in 3 women have been sexually harassed at workplace.
The following article will help you tackle such situations.
NOTE: It is important to know that sexual harassment can either be verbal or physical, and federal law strictly prohibits sexual harassment.
Talk To The Person Directly
People think that if they ignore a person, the person may stop. Yes, some people do stop but most do not.
Talk directly with the person and tell him to stop. Tell him that if he doesn’t’ stop, you plan on filing a report against him.
Upon hearing of filing a complaint, most people stop. If the person still doesn’t stop, scroll ahead on other methods.
Finding Witnesses and Other Harassed People in Your Office
There’s a good chance that you aren’t the first victim of sexual harassment by your harasser. Do the following things:
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See if there are other people present when you become a victim of sexual harassment.
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See if other people have been harassed by the same person.
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Try to collect evidence. Record any verbal harassment or keep track of physical notes or emails, in case the harasser is communicating through them.
Talk with both of them and when filing a report, mention both people. A strong testimony will act as an evidence to support your complaint.
Formally Addressing The Supervisor
Write a formal letter to your supervisor, telling about the unfortunate event in detail. You can also ask the supervisor to arrange a meeting, in which you can personally explain the situation.
Consult HR Manager
These people are responsible for hiring and they have ample amount of public dealing experience. Consult him and think about your options.
The HR manager then, would be able to help you according to your situation.
Address Senior Management
If supervisor and HR both fail in providing an adequate solution to your problem, it is now time to involve senior management.
Formally address to senior management about the sexual harassment. The senior manager should be able to perform the desired actions in discretions and would help you out. In order for their full support, you should present all the evidence of sexual harassment.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
If all the above methods have failed, try contacting EEOC. The commission is designed to investigate sexual harassments inside the workplaces.
Inform the EEOC about the details of your workplace, your employer and your harasser.
Filing A Lawsuit
This is probably the last legal option available. After filing a complaint with ‘Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’, you can file a lawsuit.
In case the employer has fired you due to miscellaneous incidents, you can file a lawsuit to get monetary benefits or try to get your job back.
Filing a lawsuit is the last step so you should make your move with caution. Acquire the experience of an able attorney who has ample experience regarding the case handling of sexual harassments.
Posted by Randy Blakeslee – GetnSocial
