It is against the law to harass a person (a job applicant or employee) because of that person’s sex. Sexual harassment can include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. It can also include offensive or derogatory remarks about a person’s sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a female employee by making offensive comments about women in general.
Victims and harassers can be either a women or a men, and the victim and harasser can be the same sex. The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
Although the law doesn’t prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision such as the victim being terminated or demoted. Keep in mind, though, that unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer. The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome and it is helpful for the victim to inform the harasser directly that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop.