Sexual harassment can be physically dangerous and psychologically damaging to those who must endure it while at work. Minnesota and federal laws protect workers from sexual harassment, but an unfortunate number of individuals still suffer this demeaning form of provocation each year. Sexual harassment can take on different forms, and one of those forms is called quid pro quo harassment.
Quid pro quo means “something for something.” In the context of sexual harassment in the workplace, it may mean an employee is asked to acquiesce to their boss’s sexual requests in exchange for a raise. It may mean a person in a position of power conditions an applicant’s hiring on going on a date with them. In other words, quid pro quo harassment involves an exchange between a person in power and their subordinate that involves the subordinate getting an employment benefit due to their acceptance of a sexual request.
No employee, male or female, should have to put up with sexual harassment in any form anywhere, especially while they are at work. If they do experience quid pro quo harassment, they should know that they have legal rights.
A person who suffers quid pro quo harassment may seek different remedies to end their suffering and protect their employment rights. They may pursue any wages or pay that they lost due to their involvement in a quid pro quo harassment situation and they may seek compensation for the emotional harm that they put up with due to their victimization. The damages that individuals may seek in these serious employment law cases will depend on the cases themselves and readers should seek independent legal counsel on how to proceed in in their own sexual harassment matters.
