The supreme court ruled in Oncale v. Offshore Sundowner that the Title XII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 covers same sex sexual harassment. Companies need to make sure this type of harassment is covered in their sexual harassment training.
Sexual Harassment in the workplace no longer just constitutes male to female or male to male harassment. The Supreme Court has now confirmed that same sex harassment is now covered under harassment law. This clarification is an important distinction for all companies to include in their training.
Title XII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal to discriminate based on the basis of sex was amended when the Supreme Court ruled on Oncale V. Offshore Sundowner. In the case, a man was subjected to humiliation, threats and assault of a sexual nature by other men. The company had considered the actions "hazing" and not sexual harassment. The court ruled that same sex harassment can indeed by considered sexual harassment. The district court and the appeals court had both sided with the company.
This clarification by the courts needs to be recognized by companies and same sex harassment needs to be included in all training programs and understood by all employees. Both Quid Pro Quo Harassment and Hostile Work Place Harassment are real possibilities in all workplaces. If your current harassment training program doesn't have same sex harassment included it should be amended. Many employees may not even know that their actions fall into the category of sexual harassment. Like the employees at Offshore Sundowner, they may believe that their actions are innocent hazing of a new employee.
Employees need to sign that understand harassment policy and they need to be trained on exactly what constitutes harassment. Companies need to leave no doubt about what is acceptable in the workplace. Every employee deserves a safe, positive place to work and it will make your workplace more productive and cut down on the chance of a lawsuit.
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