1. Sexual harassment at work occurs whenever unwelcome conduct on the basis of gender affects a person's job, and it is defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that affects a person’s employment. There are two basic types of unlawful sexual harassment, and the type referred to as hostile environment is harassment that results in a tangible employment action such as when a supervisor tells a subordinate that he or she must be sexually cooperative with the supervisor or he or she will be fired.
A. True
B. False
2. To determine whether behavior is severe or pervasive enough to create a sexually hostile environment, it must be subjectively abusive to the person(s) affected, and it must be objectively severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would find abusive. Which of the following is NOT an accurate statement about this environment?
A. The frequency of the unwelcome discriminatory conduct and the severity of the conduct are important factors
B. Whether the conduct was physically threatening or humiliating, versus a mere offensive utterance would be a consideration
C. The effect on the employee’s psychological well-being is an important consideration
D. An example of a sexually hostile work environment would one in which, over the course of a few months, a woman’s supervisor had asked her out on dates, called her a “dumb blonde,” placed his hand on her shoulder, and attempted to kiss her
3. Employees who promptly report harassing sexual conduct can help their organization as well as themselves. One comprehensive survey by the American Management Association reported that roughly _________ of internal reports result in some kind of discipline being imposed on the alleged harasser, with even more internal reports resulting in either discipline or counseling.
A. One-fourth
B. One-third
C. Two-thirds
D. Three-fourths
4. For an accuser, it is quite possible that the employer’s investigation will fail to completely clear his or her name because the investigation may conclude that there is no way to tell what really happened. Sexual harassment complaints often involve one-on-one situations where it is difficult to determine the truth, and two people can have totally different perceptions of the same incident.
A. True
B. False
5. Sexually harassing conduct is unwelcome if the recipient did not initiate it and regards it as offensive. The author lists the Do’s and Don’ts for victims of sexual harassment including all of the following EXCEPT:
A. Realize that there could be a problem, but ignore the behavior initially to see if it goes away
B. Tell the offender that his or her behavior is bothering you
C. Say specifically what you want or don’t want to happen, such as “please call me by my name not Honey,” or “please don’t tell that kind of joke in front of me”
D. Get help in trying to handle the recurring or severe harassment
6. In 1993, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a discriminatorily abusive work environment is unlawful even if it does not affect an employee’s psychological well-being. It is enough if the employee subjectively perceives a hostile work environment as a result of gender-based conduct and the conduct was severe or pervasive enough to create an objectively hostile environment -- one that a reasonable person would find hostile.
A. True
B. False
7. According to a United States appeals court ruling, a male employee can sue for sexual harassment on the basis of gross behavior by his male co-worker even if the harasser is also vulgar to a female co-worker, even if much of his conduct is not sexual, and even if he is not gay.
A. True
B. False
8. In 1999, a female police officer from the Atlantic City Police Department sued for sexual harassment, and was able to win her case based solely on conduct that she witnessed, including harassment of other women and “locker room” talk by male officers who used vulgar words to describe women.
A. True
B. False
9. Which of the following is an accurate statement about the requirements and limitations for sexual harassment?
A. EEOC Guidelines on Sexual Harassment suggest that conduct constituting sexual harassment must be “conduct of a sexual nature,” so such actions as a supervisor giving demeaning and inappropriate assignments to women, but not to men, does not constitute harassment
B. While the employer is required to address harassment situations within the workplace once the matter is discovered, he or she is not required to do the same if the harassment is by non-employees such as clients, customers, vendors, and consultants
C. The nature of sexual harassment may be purely verbal or visual (pornographic photos or graffiti on workplace walls, for example), and it does not have to involve any job loss
D. All of the above
10. Courts and state laws have held that individual employees cannot be liable under Title VII for perpetrating harassment, so the responsibility must fall on the employer.
A. True
B. False
Copyright © 2010 Quantum Units Education
Visit us at QuantumUnitsEd.com!