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The EEOC or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has reported an alarming rise in sexual harassment of young adults in the workplace. According to a recent report, such complaints have risen 76%. In one Maine study, 1 in 3 high school students reported unwanted sexual advances in the workplace.

Many of the incidents reported involve high school students or recent graduates working in restaurants, including fast food franchises. Others involve interns at prestigious corporations.

According to one unnamed EEOC attorney, “It’s an incredibly serious problem. Employers that choose to use high school kids to work have a responsibility to protect these young people.  We don’t want them to be fondled, we don’t want them to be raped.”

While the majority of the complaints involve females under 18, complaints of sexual harassment involving young male employees are also up.

In one of the most disturbing cases, a 16-year-old fast food worker was (more…)

Proving that sexual harassment is not confined to civilian employers, an Air Force commander was recently found guilty of two counts of indecent assault involving female employees at a base in Texas.  He was sentenced to 9 years in prison and discharge from the service on a total of 34 criminal counts on July 26, 2008. The sexual assault convictions mean that Col. Lofton must register as a sex offender.

According to a Wichita Falls newspaper, a military panel of 7 men and  2 women found Col. Samuel Lofton III guilty of forcing two civilian female employees to kiss him and placing their hands on his genitals. One of the women reported two incidents in 2007, while the other reported two incidents in 2006. Both women worked in the same building as Col. Lofton, although neither reported to him. Col. Lofton was also found guilty of harassing a high-ranking enlisted Air Force member on the phone and making sexually suggestive comments to her at work.

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