According to the Utah Anti-Discrimination Act, it is illegal to discriminate against anyone in the workplace due to their sex, pregnancy, or any medical condition related to pregnancy and childbirth. The Act governs any employer who has more than 15 workers on the payroll. Sexual harassment falls under the scope of the Anti-Discrimination Act, as well as under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and is illegal in the state of Utah. So if you are being sexually harassed, you do have the right to file a claim to make it stop.
When it is more than just banter
There are always going to be times in an office atmosphere when someone is going to be offended by something someone says or does. But sexual harassment isn’t about one single joke or offensive comment. It is a pervasive and systemic series of intimidating and threatening behaviors that impede someone from performing at work.
The behavior must be repetitious enough to hinder your ability to advance and create a hostile work environment for the office. To prove sexual harassment, you also have to show the theory of “reasonableness.” In legal terms, that means that you must demonstrate that it isn’t just you who finds the behaviors offensive, but that if any “reasonable” person were in your shoes, they would also find it offensive.
Although many behaviors can be sexually intimidating and threatening, the most common forms of sexually harassing misconduct are nonconsensual touching, inappropriate gender-based jokes, sexually explicit material, unwelcome sexual advances, sexual innuendos, and lewd comments that are continuous and contribute to making the work atmosphere uncomfortable.
Sexual harassment can also come in one single request for a sexual favor. If someone who has power over your position propositions you for a sexual favor and makes it either explicitly or implicitly clear that your compliance has a bearing on your status at work, that is considered “quid pro quo” sexual harassment. Also, if your employer offers you a benefit if you perform a sexual favor, that is also quid pro quo harassment.
