Unfortunately, sexual harassment continues to happen in the American workplace. This is often due to a difference in power between two individuals. For example, harassment may be the way that an executive demonstrates their power to the office workers that they are in charge of. They may also just be abusing the power given to them by their position.
However, when allegations of sexual harassment are made, these individuals may deny that anything was wrong and try to cover up the event. To see how this can happen, consider the two potential ways listed below.
Saying it was a joke
One of the most common ways that this happens is that the person who committed the harassment will claim that it was all a joke.
They didn’t mean what they said. They thought it would be funny. They think the other person just doesn’t have a good sense of humor. But offensive jokes of a sexual nature are still harassment, and saying that something was intended to be funny is not an excuse.
Gaslighting
Similarly, the person may begin gaslighting the individual who suffered from the abuse. This is when they try to make that person think that the entire event is in their head and that they are the one who is viewing the situation inaccurately.
They may claim that they are not remembering the event correctly, for example. They may also claim that this type of behavior is normal and shouldn’t be considered offensive. It’s important for employees who have been harassed to know that this manipulation can happen so that they are not influenced by it.
Additionally, employees may need to take action against a coworker, a supervisor or even the owner of a company. This can be a very delicate situation, so it’s important for them to understand all of their legal options.