Blazers cope with sexual harassment at work

Each day as senior Tanu Suri leans against the counter, the customers at the photography shop where she works compliment her on looks. For months senior Suzie Adjogah dealt with the unwanted gifts her boss gave her from his travels abroad. Whenever senior Emma Karey wore a short skirt to her old job, her fellow waiters' catcalls would ring in her ears throughout her shift.

Most teens would be quick to label situations like these as flirting, says Jocelyn Samuels, Vice President for Education and Employment at the National Women's Law Center. But if the flirting is known to be unwanted and continues, it can qualify as sexual harassment, says Samuels.

Unsure of how to react to these unwelcome advances, teenage girls often face the same troubles as these Blazers at their jobs. In recognition of their difficulties and of the broader confusion that young people have about their rights in the workplace, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) launched Youth at Work, an initiative dedicated to educating teens about their rights and responsibilities as employees, in September 2004.

The need for Youth at Work is a real one, according to James Ryan, the EEOC's Public Affairs Specialist: Although the majority of adults receive sexual harassment training at work and know how to seek help, most teens are unsure of how to protect themselves while keeping their jobs. For Suri, Adjogah, Karey and others like them, unwanted attention at work is a pressing problem with no easy answer.

Creepy behavior

Teens are easy victims of sexual harassment from the moment they first don fast food restaurant uniforms or begin ringing up customers' purchases in a shop, says Samuels. "Teens enter the workforce at the bottom rung of jobs and therefore have less power to defend themselves,” she explains.

The most important thing for a teen to know, according to Ryan, is that they have to be certain the harasser knows the attention is unwelcome. "Then,” says Ryan, "if the person persists they can be held accountable for harassment.”

Although the advances of her clients made Suri uncomfortable in the beginning, she gradually got used to them, she says, when she realized that the clients would accept her refusals without protesting. Therefore, since their behavior doesn't bother Suri, their actions wouldn't qualify as sexual harassment in the legal sense.

But Karey, unlike Suri, did feel harassed by her fellow waiters. However, her confusion concerning what she had a right to expect from them led her to simply ignore their advances or smile politely in return, all the while keeping her uncomfortable feelings inside. "I didn't know if that was part of the workforce,” she says. "I just thought that it was something that happened to everyone.”

Sexual harassment can take on many forms, according to Samuels - forms that a teen, like Karey, might not recognize. It can include porn on a manager's screensaver, sexually suggestive pictures on the walls, inappropriate jokes, unwanted gifts and unwelcome physical contact. It can come from various sources and doesn't have to be directed at any one person in particular.

Unfortunately, says Samuels, even if a teen worker can identify sexual harassment, they pale at the idea of confronting their bosses or co-workers about it, instead choosing silence.

Unfounded fears

Over the course of the year that she worked at her job, Karey never once told her supervisor about the inappropriate advances of her co-workers. "I was really intimidated to bring it to [my boss' attention] because he's friends with the families [of the waiters], and I didn't want to mess things up with that or with my job,” she explains.

But Karey's fear of being fired from her job was unfounded, in the legal sense, according to Samuels. Teens shouldn't be afraid of speaking up about sexual harassment since if employers or fellow co-workers do retaliate with threats of pink slips, or physical or verbal threats, they may face serious consequences, she says.

To best protect themselves from sexual harassment, teens should keep detailed records of the types of harassment they experience, tell someone about what is going on and find out their company's procedures for complaints, says Samuels.

Junior Ashleigh Nixon knew that her manager and assistant manager's unwelcome sexual comments about her figure and attempts to grab her in private places were illegal. She endured their advances for about a month before she decided something needed to be done. "We got into a big argument, and they were like, 'We're sorry, Ashleigh, we're so sorry,' and they stopped,” she says.

Sometimes, though, the environment at a teen's work place becomes awkward after they speak up. It's been over a year since Adjogah confronted her boss about the expensive ring and necklace he gave her. Although he stopped after the confrontation, the atmosphere at her work is still unpleasant. "Every time I go to work I find myself wondering if he's going to say something or do something that would make me uncomfortable,” she says.

Some good advice

Although some teens, like Adjogah and Nixon, have the courage to speak up, most tend to be close-mouthed like Karey, according to Samuels. "Teens are less likely in general to know what the law says or to know what to expect and why they have a right to expect it,” she explains.

Karey didn't confront her fellow co-workers about their behavior because of the intimidation she felt when she imagined the encounter. "You want to say it, but when you're in that place and time and the person is there in front of you, and you want to say 'Leave me alone, get the heck away from me,' you can't,” insists Karey.

For Karey and others, help is on the way. "We will do battle if we need to against sexual harassment,” emphasizes Ryan. "We want young workers to know that the EEOC is on their side, that they don't have to stand any discrimination.”

After launching Youth at Work, the EEOC is well on its way to informing teens about how they can protect themselves from unwelcome kisses or sexual slurs. According to the EEOC web site, Youth at Work has held free outreach events at schools across the country where students learn about the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees.

Recently, says Ryan, the EEOC signed an agreement with the National Restaurant Association to work together towards raising awareness about harassment and discrimination of teens at work.

The Association plans to hold training sessions on anti-discrimination laws and publish articles in organizational newsletters, among other efforts, to better educate their members' employees, according to an Association media representative.

The EEOC is looking to sign a similar agreement with clothing vendors, says Ryan.

But most importantly, Youth at Work aims to help students understand the need to speak up. Suri's advice: "If it's someone who's being persistent, just tell them 'No,' like 'No.' And let them take no for an answer.”