What constitutes sexual harassment?

In Texas, sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when submission to or rejection of such conduct either explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Examples of sexual harassment in the workplace include unwelcome physical contact, such as touching, patting, pinching, or brushing against someone’s body; unwelcome comments or jokes of a sexual nature; unwelcome displays of sexual images, such as images of nudity or pornography; or requests for sexual favors in exchange for employment benefits. Harassment based on sex also includes harassment that is not necessarily sexual in nature. This type of harassment includes gender-based comments or jokes, excluding people from work-related activities because of their gender, and displaying or sharing offensive materials related to gender. It is important to note that sexual harassment can occur regardless of the genders of the harasser and the victim. It is also important to recognize that harassment is discrimination based on sex, and is therefore illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that a workplace is free from sexual harassment, and employers should take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment from occurring.

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