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Jun 12, 2024
Brian Clausen, Copy Editor
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been tasked with addressing allegations of workplace discrimination and harassment since its inception in 1964 as part of the Civil Rights Act. It’s been 25 years since they released new guidance on harassment in the workplace, but in April, the agency announced updated enforcement policies on the matter.
Between 2018 and 2022, allegations of harassment accounted for 34 percent of discrimination claims received by the EEOC. Total harassment charges actually increased between 2021 and 2022, so the commission has likely used this data as impetus to increase its focus on stemming harassment in the workplace.
In the past 25 years, the threat of harassment has increased along with vigilance for it, namely through the internet. The totality of technological advances in those 25 years is monumental to say the least, and so the EEOC had to adjust right along with it.
In addition, the guidance addresses the growth of virtual work environments and the increasing impact of digital technology and social media on how harassment occurs in the work environment.
For example, say two employees, Zak and Sara, are dating each other, but the relationship ends. Zak refuses to accept the break up, and threatens to share explicit images of Sara that he received when they were dating. Sara still enforces the breakup, and Zak retaliates by sharing the images with their coworkers. This is against the law and constitutes a hostile work environment.
The punishment for this will depend on the state in which these two people work, and in some places, just the threat of sharing explicit images is a crime. As the first camera phone wasn’t introduced until November of 2000, it was crucial for the EEOC to finally implement court findings and new laws of this nature into its regulations.
Harassment continues to be a serious issue in American workplaces. Since 2016, more than a third of all discrimination charges received by the EEOC alleged harassment based on race, sex, disability, or gender. The challenges presented in a modern digital world have made addressing harassment in the workplace an even more complicated endeavor.
By providing this updated resource on the legal standards and employer liability applicable to harassment claims under the federal employment discrimination laws, the EEOC’s guidance will help people feel safe on the job and assist employers in creating respectful workplaces.
Brian Clausen
Copy Editor
Brian Clausen is a copy editor at SkillPath. He has been with SkillPath for four years, and his writings have appeared on LendingTree, Shutterfly, and Dopplr.
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