What does Kentucky, federal law say about workplace sexual harassment & discrimination?
Three more women have come forward to the Herald-Leader to detail alleged sexual harassment they were subjected to by state Rep. Daniel Grossberg.
The Louisville Democrat has been removed from his committees and is facing an ethics investigation in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Grossberg has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for alleged “creepy” and “weird” he behavior directed toward women involved in Kentucky politics.
Since the Herald-Leader’s initial July 30 story, a dozen women from across the country reached out to share allegations of harassing or sexually-charged communications from Grossberg dating as far back as 2001.
On Monday evening, Grossberg denied the allegations, saying he’s not abused the power of his office. He also apologized to those he’s made “uncomfortable.”
Workplace sexual harassment violates federal and Kentucky law, but unfortunately, it’s still all too common on the job.
Here’s a breakdown of how state and federal law deals with the matter and what types of sexual harassment and specific behaviors are prohibited.
What does federal law say about sexual harassment?
To start, sexual harassment is sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as explained by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
More specifically, it’s defined as follows, according to the EEOC: “Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct 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.”
Some general things to keep in mind about sexual harassment include:
It’s a common misconception that only women are harassed and only men are the harassers. Anyone, regardless of their gender, can be the victim or perpetrator of harassment.
Another myth is the only victim of sexual harassment is the person who was harassed. According to the EEOC, a victim could be anyone who was affected by the offensive conduct.
Sexual harassment does not require a power imbalance between employees. It can occur between workplace peers or people in a hierarchical relationship, such as a supervisor and an employee.
Sexual harassment does not have to be repeated for it to be considered harassment. It may arise from a single instance if it is sufficiently egregious.
Sexual harassment does not require a physical or verbal component. Sending explicit photos and videos to a co-worker via text messages or emails is an example.
When investigating accusations of sexual harassment, the EEOC looks at the totality of the evidence, including the circumstances involved, the context and the nature of the sexual advances. A determination is drawn from the facts on a case-by-case basis, according to the EEOC’s sexual harassment fact sheet.
What does Kentucky law say about sexual harassment?
Even though Kentucky’s Civil Rights Act (KRS Chapter 344) does not explicitly use the term “sexual harassment,” it bans discrimination based on sex. Kentucky law is in line with federal law on sex discrimination, which as mentioned, defines sexual harassment as a form of sex-based discrimination.
Separately, the more modern Kentucky military code of justice explicitly spells out sexual harassment. It defines the behavior as making offensive sexual comments or gestures, exerting influence to extract sexual favors or displaying or transmitting sexually explicit images.
What sort of behavior is prohibited under the law?
Many different types of behaviors, actions and activities can fall under sexual harassment, but there are generally two broad categories that help define it.
Quid pro quo harassment is a type of harassment that promises one action in exchange for another, as explained by the Kentucky law firm Landrum and Shouse. An example could be a supervisor requiring an employee to date them in order to keep their job.
Hostile work environment discrimination is less specific and more difficult to prove. According to Landrum and Shouse, claims must meet a subjective standard on the part of the victim (i.e. did they believe the conduct was hostile, abusive or offensive) and an objective standard informed by how a reasonable person would view the behavior if they were in the victim’s shoes. Courts look at several factors to determine if the work environment is indeed hostile.
Specific behaviors that constitute sexual harassment include the following:
Unwanted physical touching.
Remarks about a person’s body, relationships or clothing.
Staring at the person’s body in a lewd manner.
Requests for dates or sexual favors.
Sexual jokes, comments, pictures or emails.
How and where can Kentuckians file a workplace sexual harassment complaint?
The first step is typically reporting the harassment internally through the employer’s established procedures. Employees filing a complaint should do so in writing and keep a copy for themselves.
They should keep track of times, dates, names and what the harasser did, according to the Louisville law firm Abney Law. Also keep track of how the employer reacted to the complaint. Workplace retaliation for filing a sexual harassment complaint is illegal.
Beyond that, Kentucky workers have the option of filing a complaint with either the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
It’s important to remember there are time limits for filing a complaint.
If you choose to pursue a sexual harassment claim with the EEOC, in Kentucky you have up to 300 days from the date of the incident to file a claim. If you are suing under Kentucky law, you have one year from the date of the harassment to file a claim.
Do you have a question about the law in Kentucky for our service journalism team? Send us an email at ask@herald-leader.com or fill out our Know Your Kentucky form.
This story was originally published August 20, 2024 at 11:24 AM.