Washington State Human Rights Commission

Sexual harassment is unwelcome or unwanted sexual advances or requests for sexual favors. It can also be some kind of sexual action that is aimed at someone because of the person’s sex. This action can be verbal, physical, or visual and subtle or obvious. It can also include conduct that is not sexual in nature but is gender-related. Sexual harassment includes the harassment of the same, or of the opposite, sex.

The kind of actions that could be considered sexual harassment takes many forms. Actions like pinching, grabbing, patting, touching someone else can be considered sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment can also include comments like:
• Repeated requests for dates
• Embarrassing stories or “jokes”,
• Comments or questions about someone’s body or sexual activities
• Displays of pornographic materials
• Indecent exposure
• Assault or even rape.

Anyone can behave in ways that can be considered to be sexual harassment. This kind of behavior can happen with co-workers, supervisors, or non-employees. If a co-worker behaves in these kinds of actions then management needs to be told immediately so it can be stopped.

In order for behaviors to be looked upon as sexual harassment they have to be unwanted or unwelcome to someone. Also mild behaviors need to happen more than once and occur in a short time frame.

A one-time comment that suggests in mild terms something sexual is not enough to be considered sexual harassment. But if the comment is pointed and asking for sex then once may be enough to be considered sexual harassment. It depends upon the position the person is in that is making the comment.

Touching is generally not proper at work but may not be sexual harassment. If someone likes to touch people and touches everyone then this may not be sexual harassment. It may be more an invasion of someone’s space.

However, if the touching is to a part of the body that is normally considered a “private” area then this could be sexual harassment. Keep in mind even touching may take more than one time to rise to a level that a court will call sexual harassment.

A hostile environment is a feeling at work, after several actions of a sexual nature happen, that is unwanted. The formal definition is “Any unwelcome verbal or physical conduct that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.”

What this means is that when people do unwanted actions at work that involves sex it can lead to an uncomfortable feeling at work. In order for this to be an illegal form of sexual harassment the actions need to be happening often enough to change your work conditions. Or the actions need to be serious enough to change your work condition.

No. The state law against discrimination applies to both genders. While statistically more women are subjected to sexual harassment than men both genders are subjected to sexual harassment and are protected.

Applicable to employees

If possible tell the person making the comment or touching you that you don’t like the behavior. It is not necessary under the law to do this but it makes common sense that the person can’t stop what they are doing if they don’t know someone doesn’t like it.

Employers should have a sexual harassment policy that tells the employees what to do when they believe they are being sexually harassed. Follow this policy. If your employer does not have a policy then tell your supervisor or someone in management that can stop the behaviors. Human resource personnel are another good option.

The employer is legally responsible for actions that may break the law but only after it knows about them. So telling someone that can stop the unwanted actions is important.

• The supervisor
• The operations manager
• Human resource manager
• President or vice-president

If a manager does this type of action then the employer may be liable for the manager’s actions. This is more so if a bad employment decision is made based upon the worker’s refusal.

7. What should I expect after I inform my employer about things I consider sexual harassment?

The most important thing to expect is for the behavior to stop. If the person behaving in the unwanted manner stops then the employer has done what is expected of them.

The employer should do a thorough investigation of the allegation to determine the facts. This includes detailed statements from everyone involved. They should also find out if there are other ways of confirming the statements. Once all the relevant facts are known the employer should take appropriate action. The least action should be to ensure this type of behavior is stopped and does not happen again.

The employer is not required to tell the person making the complaint what it did to stop the bad actions. Giving the employer enough time to look into the problem and take action is important.

This means if the employer is informed at 9 AM one day expecting the actions to stop that afternoon may not be reasonable. Of course this depends upon what the actions were. If the action is aggressive behavior a few hours notice may be all that is needed to get the action to stop.

It is illegal for an employer to do something unfair to the employee that reports sexual harassment. The employer is expected to treat the claim seriously. The employer should not take bad actions against the person reporting this problem.

Once the unwanted behavior stops then yes the employee should go back to work. The employer is still responsible to ensure the safe and non-discriminatory work place.

9. How often do I have to let someone touch my body (arm, back, etc.) before I tell my boss about it?

No one has to put up with someone else touching them, whether it is once or lots of times. Telling the person touching you that you don’t like it should take care of the problem. But if it doesn’t stop the person tell your supervisor or human resources person immediately.

A lot of times employers say to tell a senior manager or their human resource person. If the employer doesn’t have this kind of policy then tell your supervisor’s boss that this kind of action is going on.

If the employer is small and there aren’t many managers then ask for help from the other managers. Someone may be able to talk with the supervisor.

If someone is fired because they reported actions they thought were sexual harassment then this is called retaliation. Retaliation is an unfair practice under the law. Being treated unfairly after reporting this kind of unwanted action is not okay. Retaliation can result in serious problems for the employer. Contact the Commission or an attorney for further help.

Applicable to employers

12. Is an employer responsible for stopping sexual harassment by a non-employee?

An employer is liable for harassment by a non-employee. The employer needs to be informed of harassment by a non-employee. The same rules apply to a non-employee as an employee. If the employer knew or should have known of the conduct they are responsible to stop it. Sometimes the employer has limited control over the non-employee but is still expected to take as much corrective action as is possible.

13. I’m a supervisor and one of my employees just mentioned to me in the hallway that she felt this guy was coming on to her but she didn’t want to get him in trouble. What do I do?

Take employees seriously anytime they report actions they find unwanted. Supervisors need to take this information and look into it. Problems may be happening that aren’t reported. To ignore this information can lead to more serious trouble.

If the employer has a sexual harassment policy regarding these types of allegations then follow it. If the employer doesn’t have a sexual harassment policy get with the human resources department to write one.

Ignoring this kind of information may make the overall situation worse. The person that is behaving this way may not be aware it is unwanted and may keep progressing in his unwanted actions.

Since the information about these actions is not very detailed the investigation may find that the guy was naive. The behaviors may not have been meant to be sexual in nature. If he was trying to be friendly then you have an educational opportunity. Help him understand what appropriate work place behaviors are.

14. I’m a supervisor and I just saw one of my female employees grab a guy’s back pocket in the break room. Is this something I need to do something about?

The law is applied to everyone so it doesn’t matter what the gender of the person doing the unwanted actions is. Therefore, a man is protected just the same as a woman.

Since it was in an informal environment it could be a welcome action. But to be safe the supervisor should informally check it out with the man to see if it was unwelcome. If it was unwelcome or unwanted then take appropriate actions.

If the guy welcomed the action then the employer may want to review its sexual harassment policy. Ensure that the employer wants this type of behavior at work. The employer doesn’t have to allow this type of behavior. This kind of action could be leading toward an environment where other people think it is all right to touch people.

15. One of the people I supervise just left my office after telling me that he has been getting phone calls from a female co-worker that is about sex and that he doesn’t like it. What should I do now?

Follow your sexual harassment policy. The minimum action necessary is for the employer to look into the claims to establish as many facts as possible.

The employer’s sexual harassment policy can have several options here. A supervisor can investigate the allegations. Or someone from the human resources department can. Once the facts are found out then proper action needs to be taken to stop the harassment.

Remember to take all claims of possible sexual harassment seriously. The employer is responsible for a harassment free work environment.

16. After our human resources investigated the sexual harassment complaint one of my employees made against another employee they determined it wasn’t sexual harassment. Since it was a frivolous complaint can I fire the person that complained?

Employees are protected from bad employment actions after they report actions they believe to be unfair. This means that just because the complaint was made but found to not be sexual harassment doesn’t remove the protection. To end someone’s employment for filing a complaint is retaliation. Therefore, it is an unfair employment action. This applies whether the person files an internal or external complaint.

Do you have a general question that you would like answered If so, please send an e-mail to us. We will respond to your question, and if appropriate, we will add it to our FAQ section.

Please note; we cannot give legal advice. Also, if you wish to discuss your situation, or file a complaint, please contact the Commission’s Olympia office and ask to speak to an Intake Officer.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Sexual Harassment Questions

Applicable to everyone

Applicable to employees

Applicable to employers