Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment

The terms “sex-based discrimination” and “sexual harassment” carry legal significance.

Sex discrimination occurs when one or more people are discriminated against on the basis of sex or gender. Examples of sex discrimination include men and women working under different conditions, earning unequal pay, and facing different hiring and promotion requirements.

Sexual harassment occurs when one or more people sexually harass another person or another group of people. For example, an employee receives unwanted sexual advances and encounters offensive physical and/or verbal sexually-based behaviors.

Generally speaking, there are two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo sexual harassment and hostile work environment sexual harassment. Quid pro quo sexual harassment is when a supervisor or higher-up offers an employee promotions, higher wages, or other benefits if the subordinate agrees to a sexual relationship. Hostile work environment sexual harassment generally includes demeaning jokes, sexual-based threats, and the like, resulting in the creation of an unsafe and hostile workplace.

Not all sexual harassment victims are females. The workplace is not the only place where sexual harassment happens.

Victims of sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination face a variety of horrors due to being harassed and discriminated against. A common terrible choice for victims is the dilemma of choosing their dignit,y or giving in and standing in place. For example, victims who go to school could be expelled if they do not go along with their harassers’ wishes, especially if the harassers are teachers or principals. Similarly, victims of workplace sexual harassment could face demotion or outright termination. The psychological and economic pressures are real and painful; victims endure humiliation and feel degraded.

In addition, job applicants could be denied employment simply because of their sex, or because they refuse to perform sexual favors for potential employers. Similarly, job applicants could be hired only if they perform sexual favors. Moreover, victims could face potential or actual repercussions, or receive threats to remain quiet about the discrimination or harassment.

Fortunately, both federal and state laws provide remedies to victims of sex discrimination and sexual harassment. The remedies for sex discrimination include compensatory and punitive damages. Compensatory damages cover out-of-pocket costs for the victims whereas punitive damages punish employers who hatefully discriminated against the victims. However, the amount of compensatory and punitive damages, which victims can receive, depends on how large the companies where the harassers work, or worked, are.

Similarly, the law grants compensation to victims of sexual harassment. If victims did not receive certain employment opportunities, they may be able to receive said opportunities a second time around and/or monetary compensation. If harassment led victims to leaving their jobs or being fired, victims could be compensated for lost wages, lost pensions, lost overtime payments, and other lost benefits.

Sexual harassment victims also could be compensated for medical and psychological treatment. How much compensation sexual harassment victims receive often depends on what type of harassment the victims experienced, how aggressive the harassers were, how long the victims endured the harassment, how often the harassment occurred, how vulnerable the victims were at the time of the harassment, and how the harassment affects the victims psychologically.

If you or a loved one is experiencing sex-based discrimination and/or sexual harassment, know this: You have rights and legal remedies. For more information, contact Nashville attorney Perry A. Craft at the Law Office of Perry A. Craft, PLLC, or call the firm at 615 239 1899.