Week 3

Professor Roberts, Employment Law

November 18, 2012

Week 3 Assignment, Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that tends to create a hostile or offensive work environment. It is a form of Sex Discrimination and employees who are victims of being sexually harassed can sue under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Brittany Murphy was working as a receptionist for a company called Personal Connections where she was sexually harassed multiple times. Brittany had a co-worker by the name of Robert Singer who would sexually harass her by talking about how big her chest was or staring at her pictures that she placed on her desk of her in a bikini suit. Brittany felt uncomfortable with his comments, but things got worse when she found the picture of her in the bikini missing and replaced back on her desk the next day. When she went inside Robert’s office she noticed that her picture was posted on his computer as the screen saver. This disgusted Brittany and she told other co-workers on the job, but she didn’t tell her supervisor know right away. The harasses kept coming which made her eventually go to her supervisor, Dwayne Miller, and let him know all that she has been going through. He does nothing and the harassing continued. After a while, Dewayne approached Brittany and began to harass her as well, by stating that they were going out of town and they were going to share the same room. Then he began to comment about her chest from what he heard from Robert. After Brittany denied him about going on the business trip and sleeping together, Dewayne demoted her as a receptionist to the mailroom and deducted her pay.

Brittany had to face a hostile work environment as well as quid pro quo. She faced working in a hostile environment because she constantly dealt with Roberts obtrusive comments about her. She ignores the fact that she is being harassed,...