The Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) listed preliminary 2018 fiscal year information in the final 4th Quarter relevant to sexual harassment in the workforce. Although preliminary, the numbers are alarming considering that most all of the cases, have serious allegations of “Quid Pro Quo Harassment” as a main component to the victims complaint. Current data shows that approximately 66 cases were filed with 41 of those containing sexual harassment allegations. One would think in 2019 that employees and employers, especially those in management positions, that quid pro quo sexual harassment is definitely a violation of the law, let alone a company’s policy.

The Latin term “Quid pro quo” translates to basically, “something for something,” the legal definition for Quid pro quo is the mutual consideration that passes between two parties to a contractual agreement, thereby rendering the agreement valid and binding. In sexual harassment cases, quid pro quo is a form of blackmail. Quid pro quo sexual harassment is the offer of employment benefits on an employee’s submission to unwelcome sexual conduct and the rejection by the victim, which unfortunately ends in termination of that person’s employment. Most state courts follow the EEOC guidelines that state the request for sexual submission must be an unwelcome sexual advance and “is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment” or if submission to unwelcome sexual advances “is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual” (29 C.F.R. § 1604.11(a) (1)-(2) [1997]) conditions or continued employment. In addition to the victims compliant, the courts should evaluate whether the harassment is sufficiently “severe or pervasive” and be objective from the standpoint of a “reasonable person.”

A typical example of a quid pro quo harassment can begin as an innuendo suggesting a sexual favor in exchange for an increasingly more suggestive comments or conversation of a sexual nature, verbal, physical or other conduct. So here, Johnny the Regional Manager of the ABC Company, anywhere USA has a great working relationship with a direct report, Sally (fictitious employee names). Sally has been employed for several years and is coming up on a 5 year anniversary with the company and wants to be considered for a departmental promotion. During her annual review, Sally expressed to Johnny her desire to apply for a different but higher paying position within the company. Johnny responded with an innuendo suggesting that if Sally wanted to be considered for the position she, “needed to do something special” for him and “make him happy.” Sally laughed off the comment initially as she thought he was “just kidding.” When she attempted to confirm his response as “a joke,” he smiled, raised his eyebrows and did not reply. This scenario is a typical start to the progressive behaviors and inappropriate conversations that lead to a blatant violation of the law and local and or federal EEOC complaints. Quid pro quo always starts somewhere in a testing form and if not shut down from the absolute beginning, will escalate to where actual demands for sexual favors in exchange for employment status will occur.