Sexual harassment can be the result of one person pressuring another into sexual favors for job benefits or the creation of a hostile work environment. A host of different behaviors from coworkers and supervisors can create a toxic work environment where accepting abusive conduct essentially becomes a requirement for continued employment.
Inappropriate jokes are among the behaviors that can lead to sexual harassment claims by employees. At what point does a joke cross the line and become sexual harassment?
Harassment depends on perception
Jokes that are abusive and inappropriate to one person may be humorous to others. As such, the perspective of the person alleging harassment is a key component of any sexual harassment lawsuit.
For jokes to constitute sexual harassment, they generally need to be unwelcome. Ideally, the employee offended by the jokes speaks to the person making them or with Human Resources about their issues. If the person doesn’t stop or the company doesn’t intervene and the jokes continue, the situation could constitute sexual harassment.
Generally, the jokes must be offensive and pervasive enough to justify action. For example, a coworker printing a dirty meme and tacking it to an office cork board makes that inappropriate humor hard to avoid.
The jokes also need to be sexual in nature or must target people based on their sex or sexuality. If off-color jokes are pervasive and begin affecting a person’s work performance or if the person making the jokes is in a position of authority, then the situation may constitute sexual harassment.
Documenting inappropriate jokes and reviewing them with an attorney can help workers determine if they have experienced sexual harassment. A lawsuit can hold the company accountable for ignoring inappropriate workplace conduct and can compensate those harmed by offensive jokes and other forms of harassment.