Sexual discrimination in offices is considered unlawful. However, various Incidents take place daily. A large number of complaints are filed every day. Nonetheless, many incidents go unreported as victims of such harassment fear taking legal action against their perpetrators. Make sure to consult employee rights lawyers to report your case and get awareness about the available lawful remedies in your case.
Here are some of the most prominent reasons why many workplace discrimination incidents are unreported.
- Lack of awareness regarding employee rights
A lot of workers fear sexual harassment by ugly third employers. However, they lack the legal knowledge about their rights to stop it and take legal action against interstate perpetrators. All employers are required to notify their employees about the problems of sexual harassment and workplace discrimination. They are also required to give all the company-related information about the policies present to protect employees from such incidents. Many employers tend to ignore this step, resulting in a lack of knowledge about employee rights and workplace discrimination. As a result, most of the cases are not reported accurately.
As per federal and state law, workplace harassment and discrimination are illegal. Anyone who experiences this is entitled to file complaints to the EEOC to stop the abuse. If the employer does not take the complaint seriously or resolve the issue, the EEOC or victim can challenge the employer legally and sue them for it.
- Lack of validity in the case
Show me employees may be aware that they have the right to file a complaint if they face workplace harassment in their offices. However, most people avoid filing a complaint as they think their case is not valid or strong enough. It is a common misconception that employees can only file complaints if they have been subjected to extreme aggression or harassment by their colleagues. As per the guidelines of EEOC, any type of harassment and discrimination is discouraged. A new employee can be based on racial, religious, and sexual identity. Activities like jokes and slurs that can affect the community, pressurizing for sexual favors, making sexual innuendos, insults, name-calling, unsolicited touching, verbal church, ridiculing, mocking, or intimidating other employees are considered harassment. In order to have a valid case, it is necessary to demonstrate that the perpetrator’s activities contribute to workplace hostility and that the office environment is being disturbed because of it.
- Victims are afraid of retaliatory acts against them.
Many employees tend to avoid filing complaints with the EEOC as they are afraid they might experience retaliatory acts by their employers. Many people tend to have vengeful reactions against victims who take a stand against the abuse. However, if you are experiencing retaliation from your employer or any colleague, you are entitled to file a lawsuit against them. You cannot be denied any employment benefit or promotion because of the complaint.
