Sexual Harassment Affects Males Too

Usually when someone mentions sexual harassment, the first thing that pops into your head is that a man harassed a woman. Most of the time you would be right, but there are a number of cases in which a male is accused of harassing another male. One such case happened recently in Oregon at a restaurant called Si Casa Flores. Four former employees, all male, have come forward saying owner Juan Flores touched them inappropriately. Among the alleged offenses is Flores telling one of the workers, Eduardo Lopez, “You look good Eduardo. I like you,” before touching Lopez’s butt. In addition to harassment, the workers are filing a discrimination claim, believing that Flores solely targeted Hispanic men.

Many of the men involved in the case had refrained from speaking out against their employer due to fear of retaliation. According to Eduardo Lopez, “If you didn’t play the game then he would move you to another restaurant location where it is less busy and you make less money. I’m married with kids and I need my job and I was scared to lose my job.”

It is not uncommon for victims of sexual harassment to be afraid of expressing their feelings for fear of retaliation. In fact, the U.S. has very stringent anti-retaliation laws that make it unlawful for an employer to fire an individual based on valid harassment claims made by the employee. While it may seem rare, 16.4% of sexual harassment claims filed in 2010 were filed by males. It’s likely there are additional men that aren’t filing their cases due to their fear of the stigma attached to sexual harassment.

The precedent for male on male sexual harassment dates back to 1991 in the Oncale vs Sundowner Offshore Services case. Joseph Oncale was an oil platform worker who subjected to sexual harassment by his male co-workers, who resorted as far as sodomoizing Oncale with a bar of soap and threatening rape. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Oncale, effectively setting in place the notion that sexual harassment does not require “sexual desire” and may occur within members of the same sex.

Any person that feels like they’re a victim of sexual harassment, whether by the same or opposite sex, should contact a sexual harassment lawyer in California as soon as they believe they’ve been wronged. Allowing the sexual harassment to continue may result in escalation of the behavior, only worsening the situation and endangering you. Contact a sexual harassment lawyer in California as soon as you’ve been victimized.

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