# Questions about sexual harassment in the workplace..

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace/564731>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 19, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace/564731 "2010-12-19T17:56:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace/564731/21 "2010-12-22T21:42:17Z")

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> [@curlcoat](#):
>
> I’m in the US so I don’t know if this applies.

Looks like something similar is available in California, if (as I guessed earlier) you are resident in that state, **curlcoat**. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is the organization you would turn to if discrimination in employment is in issue. From its [web site](http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/onlineAppt/):

> [@](#):
>
> DFEH’s authority to resolve complaints extends to allegations of discrimination based on race, color, ancestry, religion, age (40 and above), sex/gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin (including language use restrictions), disability (mental and/or physical including HIV and AIDS), medical condition (cancer/genetic characteristics), denial of family care or medical leave, retaliation for reporting patient abuse by health facilities, or retaliation because you filed a discrimination complaint or asserted your rights.
> 
> DFEH has jurisdiction over both private and public entities operating within the State of California, including corporate entities and all State departments and local governments. DFEH does not have jurisdiction over the federal government.

It does not seem to be quite as comprehensive as we have in our Human Rights Commissions–note that DFEH deals with employment and housing, so presumably, discrimination by (say) a restaurant against certain types of diners is not addressed by DFEH, where it would be here. And it does not address complaints by California residents who happen to be federal employees, though they likely have some other form of recourse available to them from the federal government. But this thread is dealing with employment, so I’ll limit my remarks to the organization that deals with that.

> [@curlcoat](#):
>
> So IMO the answer to the question is sexual harassment is whatever the company decides it is, and that decision will depend on who is doing it or to whom.

I should address this also. It appears that in California, the state (not any company) has decided what “sexual harassment” is, and the state’s definition is included in the DFEH’s [FAQs](http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/DFEH/Complaints/empFaq.aspx), under “What is sexual harassment?” An excerpt:

> [@](#):
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> State regulations define sexual harassment as unwanted sexual advances, or visual, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. This definition includes many forms of offensive behavior and includes gender-based harassment of a person of the same sex as the harasser.

Then follows a partial list of prohibited behaviors that define and give examples of “visual, verbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature,” as well as a few others.

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