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Sexual Harassment

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Harassment can be described in general terms as aggressive or hostile interaction at the workplace. It is one of the most extreme psychosocial strains that can occur in the work environment which can cause great personal harm as well as litigation and liability issues. According to Walsh (2010), hostile work environment harassment is a form of discrimination burdened with conflict at the workplace. It can happen between colleagues of the same rank as well as between supervisor and subordinates, races, sex, religious sects, and ages to name a few examples. A person or persons are considered to be inferior and are attacked directly or subtly by one or several others in a systematic way and often over a considerable period of time with the result of excluding them or discriminating against them on the job. The harassed person would consider the aggression as discrimination or exclusion. Sexual harassment or any unlawful harassment of any nature violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This negative conduct creates a very hostile environment and can very well affect an employee’s employment status and benefits along with their well being. Anyone from a business representative, to a co-worker, contractor, vendor, or non-employee can commit this act. Victims can be anyone affected by conduct like this, not just an individual that the act is directed to. Sexual harassment can create a very hostile work environment. Individuals or groups can create this kind of environment by making offensive remarks about body parts, looks, or clothing (Federal Communications Commission, 2012). A good example of this came in the 1993 case of Harris v. Forklift Systems. Teresa Harris worked as a manager from 1985 to 1987 and was subjugated to sexual harassment from the company’s president, Charles Hardy. Mr. Hardy proceeded to sexually harass Ms. Harris and eventually

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