What Constitutes Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Illinois?

Article written by Illinois Attorney Kevin O’Flaherty

In this article, we answer the question, “what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace in Illinois?” We also answer the following: “what is sexual harassment?”, “what is the difference between quid pro quo sexual harassment and hostile work environment sexual harassment?”, “what are some examples of sexual harassment?”, “what if the harasser retaliates against me for reporting sexual harassment?”, and “do I need a lawyer for sexual harassment in the workplace?”

What is sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment at the workplace is a form of unlawful sex discrimination. The law defines sexual harassment as unwelcome verbal, visual, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature or based on someone’s sex that is severe or pervasive and affects working conditions or creates a hostile work environment. To count as “harassment” in the eye of the law, the conduct has to be severeor pervasive; it does not have to be both. The law doesn’t usually prohibit teasing, isolated offhand comments, or not-so-serious, one-time incidents. For example, one sexually suggestive comment would probably not be prosecuted, but rape or attempted rape would definitely meet both “severe” and “pervasive” criteria. Sexual harassment is also “in the eye of the beholder,” meaning it doesn’t matter if the harasser thinks the behavior is acceptable or not. It only matters what a reasonable person would find to…