Most employees do not know that they do not have to be the actual victim of a āsexual harasserā to be harmed by sexual harassment. People who are not the target of sexual harassment but who work in environments where sex harassment is occurring can file āthird partyā and ābystanderā harassment suits. These types of claims can be filed by men or women.
There are two types of third-party sexual harassment claims: āquid pro quoā or hostile environment.
āQuid pro quoā is a Latin phrase meaning āsomething for somethingā or āthis for thatā. In laymenās terms this simply means āYou scratch my back and Iāll scratch yoursā. Quid pro quo sexual harassment is the most commonly known ā in exchange for some sexual favor, an employee is given a benefit or boost in the workplace. How can this affect a third-party ā someone other than the employee giving the āsexual favorā? Simple ā when the employee who is not harassed loses a job benefit or opportunity to someone who is less qualified that submitted to the sexual harassment.
Hereās an example that really happened. The manager of a small and concentrated workgroup had a sexual affair with his subordinate and administrative assistant. The manager gave his āgirlfriendā extra bonuses, time-off without using leave, flexible schedules, etc., that werenāt available to other administrative assistants in the office. Another administrative assistant realized that she was losing out on job opportunities and benefits (she was much more qualified than the paramour for the paramourās job) because of the affair the boss was having; she realized that unless she slept with the boss, she wasnāt going to get ahead. This is a classic form of third-party āquid pro quoā sexual harassment.
The second type of third-party sexual harassment is āhostile environmentā. Consider the same scenario above ā if one employee who grants sexual favors is given preferential treatment, the motivation and work performance of other employees may be negatively affected. This is a tough case to prove ā not because it doesnāt happen or there isnāt evidence of it, but because you will have to prove the harassment was āexcessive, pervasive and opprobriousā. That means, essentially, that the harassment was severe enough that it would shock the conscience of the average person, it occurred over a significant period of time, and the negative effects were unmistakeable and long-lasting.
If you think you may be the victim of third-party or bystander sexual harassment ā or the victim of any discrimination in the Federal workplace ā contact the Law Offices of Eric L. Pine, PLLC, today to discuss your situation.
No post on this website is legal advice, is meant to be legal advice, and certainly does not serve as a substitute for legal advice. Information is power, and this information is not widely or easily accessible to Federal Employees. We are providing this information to give you, the federal employee, more information, more knowledge and more power about your MSPB appeal, EEO Complaint or OWCP claim. We are not providing you with legal advice by giving you access to this information.