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Discrimination

Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment Claims

The legal definition of sexual harassment is workplace conduct by a supervisor or co-worker – or, under certain circumstances, a third party such as a vendor or customer – that is directed at an employee because of that employee’s sex and is severe or pervasive enough to cause a reasonable person of the same sex as the targeted employee to believe that the conditions of employment have changed to make the work environment hostile. That’s a mouthful! So, let’s unpack that and restate it in plain English.

Discriminatory Motive

Sexual harassment is one type of hostile work environment. Many people think that a hostile work environment is any workplace that is unpleasant. That is not the case under the law. An unlawful hostile work environment is one in which the hostility is directed at an employee because of a legally prohibited discriminatory or retaliatory motive.

With sexual harassment, the unlawful motive is discrimination based on the targeted employee’s sex. Most sexual harassment cases involve statements or actions that are explicitly sexual in nature. Under the law, courts assume that such harassment is directed at the employee because of the employee’s sex.

However, sexual harassment can also involve statements or actions that are not explicitly sexual but are directed only at employees of a particular sex. For example, if a supervisor screams at female employees when they make mistakes but does not do that to male employees, that can be sexual harassment.

Severe or Pervasive

Not all harassment that is directed at an employee because of the employee’s sex is serious enough to make a legal claim of sexual harassment. The conduct must be severe or pervasive. “Severe” refers to a small number of incidents that are particularly bad. Under New Jersey law, even a single incident of sexual harassment is unlawful if it is serious enough. “Pervasive” refers to many incidents occurring regularly that are not that bad when considered by themselves but when taken together create a hostile work environment due to the frequency with which they occur.

Reasonable Person Standard

Under New Jersey law, whether sexual harassment is bad enough to create a hostile work environment is judged based on how a reasonable person of the same sex as the harassed employee would feel. So, if the harassed employee is female, a reasonable woman standard will apply, and if the harassed employee is male, a reasonable man standard will apply.

If you are being or have been sexually harassed at work or are facing gender discrimination, call the employment lawyers at Lenzo & Reis, LLC, at (973) 845-9922. You may also contact our attorneys online. We represent people with sexual harassment claims in Morristown, Newark and Jersey City, and across New Jersey.

Client Reviews
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"Professional and Knowledgeable Attorney. At what was supposed to be the highest point in my career suddenly became the most harassing and lowest point of my career and I was passed over for a promotion. Not because the other person was more qualified than I was, but because I followed the law and did the right thing and the people I worked for did not like that. After researching several attorneys, my wife and I found Claudia, and the decision to retain her was the best decision we ever made. After explaining our case to Claudia, we found that she was not only extremely professional but a very caring human being. Throughout the entire process of our case, Claudia was there with us every step of the way. She explained every single proceeding that we had to go through and guided us, not only as a professional attorney in and out of court, but personally as a caring and understanding person. Because of her extensive working knowledge of employment and labor laws, Claudia was able to successfully resolve our case. My wife and I will always be extremely grateful for Claudia’s hard work and dedication, and we highly recommend Claudia Reis to anyone seeking an attorney who practices in employment and labor laws." John
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"Professionalism, integrity, and determination. Outstanding representation! Chris Lenzo did an outstanding job in my employment discrimination case. He responded to my questions in a timely fashion, provided clear communication through each step of the process, and handled my case in an honest and straight forward manner. Chris’s expertise in employment law along with his hard work ensured justice would prevail in my case and got me the compensation I deserved. Likewise, Chris’s law firm staff was professional, courteous, organized, and effective. I highly recommend Chirs Lenzo’s firm to anyone with an employment legal matter in New Jersey or New York." Sofia
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