labor lawAdivision of labor law center

The rules on sexual harassment have changed slightly in the state of Oregon, enough so that employers in the state should take notice because of increased responsibility and liability that could be coming their way. And when I say liability, I mean the kind that lands you in court because a supervisor or somebody else under your watch ended up sexually harassing another worker, and that worker points the finger at you for not having a grip on your work sites.

The definition of sexual harassment in the state of Oregon hasn’t altered all that much, though. It still is the illegal discrimination on the basis of gender. It can include unwanted sexual advances, demands or request for sexual acts or favors, or any sort of out of place sexual conduct that is aimed at one worker specifically because of that worker’s gender.

Also included in the definition are if the person is made to feel that they have to submit to those demands for sexual favors, or else they may lose their job, or lose out on benefits or advances at their job. It could also go the other way, if the person feels that other people of the same gender in their office have gotten ahead because they have acceded to those sexual favors. Any sort of hostile or belligerent language directed at the employee, because of their gender, can also be considered sexual harassment if the person feels threatened, intimidated, offended or even frightened by it.

The determining factor for any of this behavior, to determine if it is in fact and in law some form of sexual harassment, is that it is intimidating or annoying or frightening enough that a “reasonable person,” if in the harassed person’s shoes, would feel the same way about that behavior directed at them.

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