In a sexual harassment case, quid pro quo is a term used to indicate that there has been some level of exchange, which may have manipulated an employee into a sexual relationship. Often, this manipulation comes from a company owner, a manager, a CEO or someone else who is above that employee in the business hierarchy.
This makes it much different than other types of sexual harassment cases. In other situations, harassment could include things like a hostile work environment, unwanted touching, crude jokes and inappropriate comments about someone’s appearance, sexual orientation and things of this nature.
But with a quid pro quo case, because of the manipulation, it may appear that the sexual relationship is consensual.
What type of exchange is being made?
Every case is unique, but the exchange usually includes some sort of benefit to the employee.
For instance, say that a person has put their name in for a promotion. The CEO of the company knows this, and they are also in charge of deciding who gets the promotion and the raise that goes along with it.
Using their position of power, the CEO tells that employee that they will definitely get the promotion and the raise if they provide sexual favors outside of work hours. Moreover, the CEO implies that, should the employee refuse, they will instead be fired.
This type of harassment means that it may look like the two are in a consensual relationship, but the employee is just participating in an effort to save their job and their career. They have essentially been put under duress, which is what makes this a form of harassment.
Options for employees
This helps to show how sexual harassment cases can be very different from one case to the next. Employees who are experiencing any type of illegal harassment on the job need to know what legal options they have.