What is quid pro quo sexual harassment?

Certain kinds of harassment, such as the creation of a hostile work environment, depend significantly on the perspective and culture of the victim. What one person may find humorous or innocent may humiliate or infuriate someone else. It is their response rather than the intent of the other person involved that matters.

However, when it comes to quid pro quo sexual harassment, there is usually little question about the intention of the individual who initiates it. Quid pro quo harassment is relatively common and can affect people of any gender or sexual orientation.

What does quid pro quo harassment involve?

Table of Contents

• What does quid pro quo harassment involve?
• Documenting offensive requests can help you later

In order to understand whether you have experienced quid pro quo harassment in the workplace, you need to know what it is. Quid pro quo harassment involves someone in a position of authority, such as a manager or even a customer or client, who attempts to leverage their authority over your career advancement or compensation as a means to pressure you into providing them with sexual or romantic favors.

Offering you a better performance review if you go on a date with them would be one example. Demanding sexual favors before the client places an order that would result in a commission for you would be another example.

Documenting offensive requests can help you later

There are frequently no witnesses present during quid pro quo harassment, which means that the victim will have the obligation of documenting what happens to prove their case later. Any time you face inappropriate behavior that constitutes quid pro quo harassment, writing down what happened, when and every other detail that you can recall can help you demonstrate a pattern of behavior.

Documenting efforts to report the issue to your employer, as well as how they respond to it, can also help protect you from retaliation. Although it can be difficult to stand up to someone who has authority over you, nobody should make intimate and personal demand for you as part of the job that you do. An experienced attorney can help take action to seek justice as well as compensation for the impact these inappropriate behaviors may have had on your career and life.