7% of these cases were deemed to have merit by the EEOC(649)."" .
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstance such as: (a) the victim or/and the harasser may be male or female, and not of the opposite sex; (b) the harasser may be a co-worker, supervisor, or a non-employee; (c) anyone affected by the offensive conduct can be considered a victim; (d) unlawful sexual harassment may occur without injury to or discharge of the victim; (e) the conduct of the harasser must be unwelcome.
Sexual Harassment comes in two forms: "quid pro quo" and "hostile working environment." "Quid pro quo was first recognized by the courts in 1976 during the trial of Williams v. Saxbe(French, 108)."" Under quid pro quo, a person in an authoritarian position, usually a supervisor, intentionally demands sexual favors of another employee/co worker in return for job benefits, a promotion, or to keep their job. These cases are usually easy to recognize under Title VII. An example of such as case took place in 1982 when the U.S. Court of Appeals set the strict rationale for a company's liability in Henson v. City of Dundee. In this case, the supervisor "uses the means furnished to him by the employer to accomplish the prohibited purpose. He acts within the scope of his actual or apparent authority to "hire, fire, discipline or promote his authority entrusted to him by the employer when he makes employment decisions, his conduct can fairly be imputed to the source of his authority.""(Roberts) This decision made a company responsible for their employee's actions. .
The second form of sexual harassment, known as hostile work environment is an expansion of protection for employees and has been a major step in defining prohibited actions of the 1980s, but at the same time is problematic for the courts and legal system. The difference is the victim is never threatened with termination or promised a promotion in return for sexual favors.
