Sexual harassment in the workplace

Woerner and Oswald (1990) examine the court response to the issue. They begin with the fact that sexual harassment is difficult to define. It generally means "unwanted sexually oriented behavior by someone in the workplace." It is legally defined as a form of discrimination.

The topic has evolved in the lower courts based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual discrimination in the work place. Sex discrimination was not included in the original draft of this legislation but was added at the last minute as an attempt to prevent passage of the Act. As a result, the true intent of Congress in the matter is not known. The first case litigated under this statute was Barnes v. T

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nlightened, as indicated by various surveys. Up to 1990, the Supreme Court only addressed the issue of sexual harassment once in a 1986 case, Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson. The first court ruled in favor of the bank stating that Vinson was a willing participant, as she admitted. On appeal the U.S. Court for the District of Columbia reversed this ruling and found Capital Savings liable based on EEOC guidelines. The court found that the employer and his agent are inseparable, negating any defense on the part of the employer, and that a woman need not prove resistance to sexual overtures to establish a Title VII claim of sexual harassment. The issue of a hostile environment was raised in these cases as well, and differing interpretations of the meaning of this have been handed down by different courts. Another issue that has been raised concerns whether an employer is liable if the unwelcome sexual advances are made by an individual who does not have supervisory responsibility over the victim, and generally the court has found that the employer is not liable in such a case. The authors conclude that the current environment shows a mixed picture of the situation. More cases of sexual harassment were being reported to the EEO
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1325
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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