Case Study Four

Wearing On Me

Most people at work know that Samantha dates women and she’s okay with that. But there’s a couple of women she works with who seem to get a kick out of telling jokes about it. They’re constantly talking about their sexual encounters and how she should just be a woman and have sex with men. For the most part she’s been able to ignore it but honestly it’s starting to wear on her, and she wants the teasing and jokes to stop.

Is this sexual harassment?

The correct answer is yes

The correct answer is yes

Making jokes and teasing Samantha about her sexual orientation is sexual harassment. This is because the conduct is connected to gender, it’s sexual in nature, and the teasing and offensive jokes are creating a hostile work environment.