What Is Quid Pro Quo Harassment?

Sadly, sexual harassment may take on many different forms in the workplace. For one, there is what is known as quid pro quo harassment. “Quid pro quo” is a Latin phrase that essentially translates to “something for something” or “this for that.” With that being said, please read on to discover more about quid pro quo harassment and how a seasoned sexual harassment attorney in Gloucester County, NJ, at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C., can help if you have unfortunately experienced such an incident.

What should I know about quid pro quo harassment?

In short, quid pro quo harassment happens when a manager, supervisor, or otherwise an individual in a position of power in the workplace demands, offers, or merely hints at sexual favors from an employee. In exchange, they may promise to give an employee certain job benefits, whether it be a promotion, raise, or otherwise. At the same time, though, they may threaten an employee with consequences such as a demotion, termination, denial of a promotion, or otherwise for rejecting their proposal.

All of this to say, two driving factors for what constitutes quid pro quo harassment are that there is a power imbalance between the two parties, and the party with the upper hand is utilizing coercion tactics to pressure the other one into complying with sexual advances.

Does it count as harassment if it was only a single incident?

You may associate the word “harassment” with a persistent pattern of behaviors such as pestering, badgering, bothering, and annoying. However, when it comes to workplace harassment, this may very much be an isolated event. That is, a single incident may be enough to establish a quid pro quo harassment claim if its severity led to a serious fallout and aftermath. Specifically, it may have been enough to drastically and negatively impact your work environment and job performance.

The most common example of this is if an individual in a position of power in your workplace sexually assaulted you, initiated unwanted physical contact with you that was sexual, or extensively spoke to you using obscene, sexual language. With this, you may understandably be fearful to return to your workplace and be unwillingly left alone in the same room as them. Or, you may now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder after the event, which causes frequent distractions and your productivity at work to significantly plateau. Again, this is not to mention the tangible consequences of your denying their advances (i.e., demotion, termination, denial of a promotion, etc).

Before this gets too much, please seek the guidance and counsel of one of the competent New Jersey employment lawyers from The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C. We will work to the best of our ability to minimize or eliminate this mess from your immediate worry.