Does Sexual Harassment Have to Be Physical?

In California, there are laws in place that protect workers from being sexually harassed while on the job. We at the Law Offices of Jeffrey D. Fulton are here to discuss what is considered sexual harassment under the law.

Unfortunately, there is a misconception going around that sexual harassment must be physical in order to be breaking any laws. Some people even believe that it has to carry a certain degree of physicality. This can keep victims of sexual harassment from speaking up about the traumatic experiences they have had, just because they don’t think their experience is valid.

However, sexual harassment is an umbrella term that covers a wide variety of actions others take, both physical and non-physical. Some examples of non-physical sexual harassment can include:

• Catcalling
• Making lewd or suggestive remarks to your face or to others behind your back
• Requesting sexual favors
• Making threats if sexual favors are not given
• Unwelcome sexual advances

In fact, remarks do not even necessarily need to be sexual in nature in order to be considered sexual harassment. For example, making crude or condescending comments based on someone’s gender can be enough to qualify. An example could include berating a female employee and demanding that they “get back in the kitchen”.

Regardless of what you have suffered through at your job, you deserve compensation. You can take a look at our web page on sexual harassment, linked here, or speak to an attorney well-versed in taking on cases just like yours to learn what your options may be.