In general, sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment. When investigating sexual harassment cases, courts and juries look at the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances, and the context in which the alleged incident occurred. A determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-to-case basis.

    Today, most sexual harassment cases involve accusations of a hostile environment. Hostile environment can result from any employee harassing any other employee, or a supervisor harassing any employee. Despite widespread publicity about the dangers of sexual harassment, surveys demonstrate that many businesses operating have yet to address the problem. Moreover, recent news reports indicate that sexual harassment cases have reached the highest levels of management. Although businesses know it exists, they appear unsure of what to do about it. Though company owners may not be liable in sexual harassment cases involving their employees, they must be able to show that they didn’t know about the harassment. Of course company owners will be liable if they knew about the harassment and didn’t do anything about it.
 
    Sexual harassment cases can be extremely costly, involving awards for damages, back pay, reinstatement, unemployment compensation and attorney’s fee. Although technically a plaintiff can bring a case without an attorney, sexual harassment cases require the skill of a good lawyer more than almost any other type of case. It is important that the plaintiff's attorney is aware of the special protections provided to sexual abuse victims in litigation and that the attorney understands the serious, life-long problem that frequently flow from sexual abuse. Furthermore, in sexual harassment cases against psychotherapists and healthcare providers, it is particularly important that a lawyer understands why the law recognizes that a patient can never consent to a sexual relationship under the circumstances.

    Sexual harassment cases in the workplace present an ongoing and growing risk to businesses. Today, the time is right for businesses to begin to manage their risk in this area more wisely. Preventing sexual harassment cases in the workplace requires a considerable investment of time and personnel. In the end, however, these costs will be offset by significant savings in legal fees and health care costs. Companies will also benefit from increased worker productivity. From a purely business standpoint, a company only stands to gain if it takes a no-nonsense, hard-line position on sexual harassment. Not only is it the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.