This document provides an overview of sexual harassment training. It defines sexual harassment and identifies the two primary types as quid pro quo and hostile work environment. Examples of inappropriate behaviors are described, including verbal, non-verbal, physical and visual forms of harassment. The training emphasizes that harassment must be unwelcome to be considered illegal and outlines what determines unwelcome behavior. It also differentiates between harassment and non-harassment and explains the reasonable person standard.

1. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
Welcome to Traena’s anti-harassment training course! This is the first
lesson – Identifying and Understanding Sexual Harassment.
After this lesson, you will be able to:
• Define sexual harassment and its two primary types
• Identify sexual harassment behaviors and issues
• Recognize proper and improper behaviors
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Agenda

2. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
• Harassment is a form of employment discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964
• Harassment is unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex (including
pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information or any
other protected category
• Unlawful sexual harassment falls into two broad categories:
• Quid pro quo (literally ‘this for that’): where enduring the offensive conduct either
explicitly or implicitly becomes a condition of continued employment
• Hostile work environment: where the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to
create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating,
hostile, or abusive
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What is harassment?

3. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
• Offensive conduct may be:
• Verbal: offensive jokes, slurs, epithets or name calling, ridicule or mockery, insults
or put-downs
• Non-verbal: inappropriate gestures, staring, or similar behavior
• Physical: assaults or threats, intimidation
• Visual: offensive objects or pictures, and interference with work performance
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What is harassment? (cont’d)

4. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
• Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited
to the following:
• The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not
have to be of the opposite sex
• The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a
supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee
• The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected
by the offensive conduct (e.g. overhead offensive jokes)
• Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of
the victim
• The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome to be considered harassment but all
conduct must still comply with workplace standards
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What is harassment? (con’td)

5. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
• What determines if conduct was "unwelcome?”
• Evidence of "unwelcomeness" usually must be objective and includes:
• Statements to the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome
• Statements to others that the conduct is unwelcome
• Other observable indications that the victim does not appreciate the conduct
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Unwelcome behavior

6. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
• Examples of quid pro quo sexual harassment include:
• Offering better work hours in exchange for sexual favors
• Offering promotion or threatening firing based upon sexual interaction
• Disciplining a subordinate who ends a romantic relationship
• Examples of hostile work environment sexual harassment include:
• Physical: touching, impeding movement, unwelcome advances, assault
• Verbal: asking unwelcome personal questions about someone’s sex life,
unwelcome requests for dates, repeatedly overhearing inappropriate jokes, using
racial slurs or sexual innuendo, comments about appearance, spreading rumors /
lies about someone’s sex life
• Visual: displaying offensive pamphlets / posters, displaying inappropriate content
from the internet, obscene gestures, display of sex-related objects
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Examples of Harassment

7. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
• Federal law does not prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents
that are not extremely serious
• The conduct must be sufficiently frequent or severe to create a hostile work
environment or result in a "tangible employment action," such as hiring, firing,
promotion, or demotion
• Petty slights, annoyances, and isolated incidents (unless extremely serious) will not
rise to the level of illegality
• To be unlawful, the conduct must create a work environment that would be
intimidating, hostile, or offensive to reasonable people
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What is NOT harassment?

8. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
• In determining whether harassment is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a
hostile environment, the harasser's conduct should be evaluated from the objective
standpoint of a "reasonable person"
• If the challenged conduct would not substantially affect the work environment of a
reasonable person, no violation should be found
• A "hostile environment" claim generally requires a showing of a pattern of offensive
conduct
• In contrast, in "quid pro quo" cases a single sexual advance may constitute
harassment if it is linked to the granting or denial of employment benefits
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Reasonable Person Standard

9. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
• Anti-discrimination laws also prohibit harassment against individuals in retaliation for
filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation,
proceeding, or lawsuit under these laws.
• Anti-discrimination laws also prohibit harassment against individuals for opposing
employment practices that they reasonably believe discriminate against individuals, in
violation of these laws.
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Retaliation