Sexual Harassment can take many forms; including a request for sexual favors; unwelcome sexual advances towards others, verbal, physical, or foreseeable conduct of a sexual nature towards people. This illegal conduct could occur in houses, or public places, hotels, restaurants, and can most often occur in the workplace. Employers, especially in the service industries, should pay careful attention to complaints by employees about customer conduct. An employer can be held liable under Title VII, for customer harassment if it fails to remedy or prevent a customer-created hostile work environment.Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following: The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim The harasser's conduct must be unwelcomeIn the case of Lockard v. Pizza Hut, Inc. (10th Cir. 1998) 162 F.3d 1062, a waitress sued Pizza Hut and its franchisee under Title VII for hostile work environment sexual harassment. While waiting tables, Lockard was harassed by two male customers. On a number of occasions, Lockard had informed her manager that she felt uncomfortable waiting on these men. One night, after Lockard seated the men, one of the men told Lockard that she "smelled good" and pulled her hair. Lockard immediately informed her manager and asked that he find someone else to serve them. The manager told Lockard "You wait on them. You were hired to waitress. You waitress." When Lockard returned to wait on the customers, one of the customers grabbed her by th...
