With the school year ending or already at an end, many teenagers will begin searching for summer employment. Often, teens seeking summer work have never worked in a place of business before, and are not only unaware of their rights in the workplace, but are also unaware of proper workplace behavior. These factors can lead to a vast under-reporting of sexual harassment by teenagers, either because they are too embarrassed to report the harassment, they are not aware that they can or do not know how to report sexual harassment, or may not even realize they are being harassed.
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in 2009, only 237 sexual harassment claims were filed for individuals aged 19 and younger. Some experts estimate that the actual numbers of harassment incidents involving teenagers is around 200,000. This extreme level of under-reporting does no favors to anyone, especially to the victims themselves. If you or a loved one knows a teenager who may have been harassed at work, be sure to let him or her know that he or she has legal rights.
Actions against corporations where sexual harassment involving teens has occurred have previously been successful. Recently, Burger King settled a lawsuit for $85,000 after charges of unwanted touching and sexual advances (that were seemingly ignored by management when the teenage victim complained) and Ruby Tuesday settled a sexual harassment claim for $225,000 after a general manager subjected teenage females to graphic remarks and propositions.
The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker has an entire department dedicated solely to the investigation of employment law, including all forms of sexual harassment. To schedule a free, confidential consultation, do not hesitate to contact us by phone at (800) 333-0000 or by email using the contact us submission form on the right.
For the full news story on teenage sexual harassment, please click here.