EEOC Information for Employees
[Information on this page is summarized from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website.]
EEOC regulations define sexual harassment as:
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:
The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.
It is helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available.
When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, EEOC looks at the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-by-case basis.
Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They can do so by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.
Any person who is being harassed may file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. If the person being harassed is afraid of retaliation, another individual, organization, or agency can file on behalf of the person who is being harassed.
To file a charge, a person must provide:
their name, address and telephone number
the address and telephone number for the employer, employment agency or union that is alleged to have discriminated, and the number of employees if known [the laws apply only to firms employing more than 15 persons]
a short description of the alleged violation
the date(s) of the violations
To file a charge with the EEOC, contact your local EEOC office. You can find the address and phone number of that office in your local phone directory or you can call 8-800-669-4000 (voice) or 1-800-669-6820 (TTY).
Following are some rules for filing a charge:
You must file a charge with the EEOC before you can file a private lawsuit in court.
You must file with EEOC within 180 days of the alleged violation; however, this deadline is extended to 300 days if the charge is also covered by a state or local anti-discrimination law.
If the charge is covered by state or local law, the EEOC will "dual file" the charge with the state or local Fair Employment Practices Agency [FEPA] , but will retain the charge for handling.
