What Constitutes Sexual Harassment In Virginia

Sexual harassment is defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when:

Submission to such conduct is made explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment; Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting that individual, or; Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

Forms of behavior which may be considered sexual harassment include, but are not limited to:

• Verbal - Specific demands for sexual favors, sexual innuendoes, sexually suggestive comments, jokes of a sexual nature, sexual propositions, sexual threats.
• Non-Verbal - Sexually suggestive objects or pictures, graphic commentaries, suggestive or insulting sounds, leering, whistling, obscene gestures.
• Physical - Unwelcome physical contact, including touching, pinching, brushing the body, coerced sexual intercourse, sexual assault.

In addition to being prohibited in the work environment, these behaviors are also not to be tolerated at agency-sponsored activities, such as conferences, workshops, retreats, etc.

The VEC may be liable for acts of sexual harassment committed in the agency workplace by non-employees such as vendors or clients for services. The VEC may also be liable for acts of sexual harassment committed by agency employees against these non-employees.

Sexual harassment does not refer to behavior or occasional compliments of a socially acceptable nature. It refers to behavior that is not welcome, that is personally offensive, and that fails to respect the rights of others. In addition to being personally offensive, the behavior must be severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would find abusive.