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Sexual Harassment at Work

Unwelcome sexual conduct at work that is a condition of the job or creates a hostile environment, a form of sex discrimination under Title VII.

Informational only - this is not legal advice. These definitions explain general legal vocabulary in plain English. They are not advice about your situation, reading them creates no attorney-client relationship, and the law differs from state to state and changes over time. For advice you can rely on, speak to a lawyer licensed in your state.

Looking for a lawyer rather than a definition? Skip to the state-by-state list of law firms for this.

What it means

Sexual harassment is treated in federal law as a form of sex discrimination. It takes two shapes. In quid pro quo harassment, a job benefit or the job itself is conditioned on submitting to sexual demands. In a hostile work environment, unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, or conduct aimed at someone because of their sex, is severe or pervasive enough to change the conditions of the job. A single serious incident can meet that standard, and so can a pattern of smaller ones; an occasional offhand remark generally does not. The harasser and the target may be of the same sex.

Whether the employer is liable depends largely on who did the harassing. If a supervisor's harassment ends in a tangible employment action, such as firing, demotion or loss of pay, the employer is liable. If there was no tangible action, the employer can defend itself by showing that it took reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct harassment and that the employee unreasonably failed to use the complaint procedure it offered. For harassment by a co-worker, a customer or another non-supervisor, the employer is liable if it knew or should have known and failed to take prompt corrective action. That is why a written complaint through the employer's own process carries so much weight.

Title VII covers employers with fifteen or more employees, and a claim generally begins with a charge filed with the EEOC or a state fair-employment agency within a limited time. Many state laws reach smaller employers. Complaining about harassment is itself protected, so an employer that punishes a complaint faces a separate retaliation claim. Since a 2022 federal law, an employee may choose to bring a sexual harassment claim in court even if they signed a pre-dispute arbitration agreement.

Where this comes from

Title VII's prohibition is 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a), and its fifteen-employee threshold is in § 2000e(b). Hostile-environment harassment was recognized in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986), and the severe-or-pervasive standard applied in Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., 510 U.S. 17 (1993). Same-sex harassment is covered under Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc., 523 U.S. 75 (1998). The employer's affirmative defense comes from Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998) and Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998), with who counts as a supervisor defined in Vance v. Ball State University, 570 U.S. 421 (2013). Retaliation is barred by 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a). The arbitration rule is the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, 9 U.S.C. §§ 401-402.

When people hire a lawyer for this

Keep a dated record of each incident, who saw it, and every complaint you made and to whom, and save messages and emails somewhere other than a work account. A lawyer can tell you whether to complain internally first, which is often what preserves the claim, and can file the agency charge before its deadline runs. If you have already been fired or demoted after complaining, say so at the start, because that is a separate claim.

Worried about the cost? A lawyer can be hired for one part of a case only (limited-scope representation), may be paid from what a claim recovers (contingency fee), or may be free through a pro bono program or legal aid; a court can also waive its own filing fees.

Find a lawyer for this in your state

Choose your state to see Sexual Harassment law firms in the city where we list the most; your city may be under “other cities”, A to Z.

Alabama (Birmingham)
+1 other city
- Montgomery
Alaska (Anchorage)
Arizona (Chandler)
+6 other cities
Arkansas (Little Rock)
California (Long Beach)
+19 other cities
- Anaheim
- Chula Vista
- Fontana
- Fremont
- Irvine
- Los Angeles
- Oakland
- Riverside
- San Bernardino
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Santa Ana
- and 7 more with fewer listed firms
Colorado (Aurora)
+2 other cities
- Colorado Springs
- Denver
Connecticut (Bridgeport)
Delaware (Wilmington)
District of Columbia (Washington)
Florida (Hialeah)
+5 other cities
Georgia (Atlanta)
Hawaii (Honolulu)
Idaho (Boise)
Illinois (Chicago)
Indiana (Fort Wayne)
+1 other city
- Indianapolis
Iowa (Des Moines)
Kansas (Wichita)
Kentucky (Lexington)
+1 other city
- Louisville
Louisiana (Baton Rouge)
+2 other cities
- New Orleans
- Shreveport
Maine (Portland)
Maryland (Baltimore)
Massachusetts (Boston)
Michigan (Detroit)
Minnesota (Minneapolis)
+1 other city
- Saint Paul
Mississippi (Jackson)
Missouri (Kansas City)
+1 other city
- St. Louis
Nebraska (Lincoln)
+1 other city
- Omaha
Nevada (Henderson)
+2 other cities
- Las Vegas
- North Las Vegas
New Hampshire (Manchester)
New Jersey (Newark)
+1 other city
- Jersey City
New Mexico (Albuquerque)
New York (Buffalo)
+2 other cities
- New York City
- Rochester
North Carolina (Charlotte)
+5 other cities
North Dakota (Fargo)
Ohio (Cincinnati)
+3 other cities
Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
+1 other city
- Tulsa
Oregon (Portland)
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
+1 other city
- Pittsburgh
Rhode Island (Providence)
South Carolina (Columbia)
Tennessee (Nashville)
+1 other city
- Memphis
Texas (Arlington)
+12 other cities
Utah (Salt Lake City)
Vermont (Burlington)
Virginia (Chesapeake)
+3 other cities
Washington (Seattle)
+2 other cities
- Spokane
- Tacoma
West Virginia (Charleston)
Wisconsin (Madison)
+1 other city
- Milwaukee
Wyoming (Cheyenne)

Related terms

Other entries in the same area of law, each written from the same primary sources.

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Part of the LawyerLand plain-English legal glossary. Definitions are written from primary sources - statutes and court rules - and each entry states the authority it rests on, or says plainly when the doctrine is state law with no national rule.

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