2. a. Sexual harassment involves any unwanted sexual attention one may experience at work. It is a type of sex-based discrimination, and it is illegal. “Quid pro quo” refers to sexual harassment in which the employee feels pressured to give something in order to gain a work-related benefit. An employee may feel like she has to endure the harassing conduct or submit to requests for sexual favors to get or keep a job, obtain an employment benefit, or avoid getting in trouble at work. The harasser might actually state this type of threat, or it could just be implied from the harassers conduct. A “hostile work environment” is when the harasser’s unwanted sexual conduct either interferes with the employee’s ability to perform her job, or creates a work atmosphere which is intimidating, offensive, or hostile. (http://www.las-elc.org/factsheets/sexual-harassment.html). Pollard was a victim of a hostile work environment. In Faragher vs. City of Boca Raton (No. 97-282), the Supreme Court ruled that companies may be held liable if supervisors sexually harass workers even if the employees do not report the harassment.
b. repeat question.
c. Do you agree that Pollard was disparately treated? Why or why not? In your answer, define disparate treatment.
Yes, I feel that Ms. Pollard was disparately treated, as evidenced by the Hardhat sign. She was treated differently because she was a female. The plaintiffs in a disparate treatment case need only prove that membership in a protected class (in this case, gender) was a motivating factor in the employment decision, not that it was the sole factor (42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(g)(2)(B)(i) (overruling in part Price-Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228 (1989)). Disparate treatment means that an employee was treated differently because of their membership in a protected class.
d. Having a policy does not guarantee that an employer is free