One of the most common reasons women don’t come forward with complaints of sexual harassment is lack of understanding. Many women simply don’t know whether what they are experiencing is unwanted flirting or if it warrants contacting a New York City sexual harassment attorneys.
Eva Del Rio is an expert on the ins and outs of workplace sexual harassment and sex discrimination. As a human resources representative for a large company in Gainesville, Eva spends her days fielding and investigating employee complaints. “Because I’m an HR person, many people think of me as a sexual harassment cop, someone will say loud enough so I can hear it, “Hush-sh … here comes HR”. As a result of her career, she’s more aware than most of the sexual harassment misconceptions circulating around corporate offices all over the country. Recently Eva Del Rio published an article spotlighting the three most common employment sexual harassment myths she hears.
Top Three Myths About Workplace Sexual Harassment:
- A single incident constitutes sexual harassment.
- Companies bear no responsibility for harassment caused by customers, vendors or other non-employees.
- Temps and independent contractors have no rights under sexual harassment laws.
Unless the incident is abnormally severe, sexual harassment cases must involve “persistent and pervasive behavior.” Rarely does a single, isolated incident constitute harassment in a court of law. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule and if you believe something you have experienced qualifies, we urge to you seek out an experienced attorney to discuss the specifics of your case. Generally, one isolated incident is enough if it involves any type of sexual touching. It should be noted that New York City has some of the most protective laws against sexual harassment. Under the New York City sexual harassment laws, one incident may be enough.
Under sexual harassment law, companies bear the same responsibility for preventing and investigating sexual harassment of employees from customers, contractors and vendors. It falls under the responsibility companies have to maintain a harassment-free work environment for their employees. Therefore, if an employee reports sexual harassment from a construction worker contracted to work in the building, the company has the same responsibility to intervene and put a stop to the behavior as if it had come from one of their full-time employees.
Lastly, many compensated workers are protected under sexual harassment laws, even some temps and oftentimes independent contractors. This means that as long as you are compensated for doing work for, or on behalf of, a company, you may be protected under the same laws as full-time, salaried employees.
As always, if you have questions about employment behavior you have experienced, call the law firm of Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC. Our dedicated team of New York City sexual harassment Attorneys are ready to discuss your sexual harassment case.
The New York City sexual harassment attorneys at the Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC handle a multitude of employment discrimination cases that involve sexual harassment in Manhattan and the greater New York City area. Sexual Harassment is gender-based discrimination and is illegal. For further information, please feel free to call us at 800-807-2209 for a free consultation or click here to schedule a free consultation.
