When most people think about sexual harassment in the workplace, they envision a man harassing a woman. But there are cases where women harass women, men harass men, and women harass men. In fact, the law prohibits sexual harassment by either men or women against people of the same and opposite gender.
Sexual harassment falls under Title VII, which is a law against sexual discrimination in the workplace. It occurs when someone engages in unwelcome sexual conduct in the workplace that affects you, your job, the work environment, as well as others in the workplace.
Under the law, there are two types of sexual harassment claims:
Quid pro quo claims
Hostile environment claims
With quid pro quo claims, a supervisor or someone with authority over an employee requests or implies an unwelcome sexual demand in exchange for something on the job, such as getting a promotion or not being fired.
Meanwhile, a hostile environment occurs when the environment at work becomes intimidating or offensive because of sexual actions and comments. Examples might include sexual jokes and comments, sexual bullying, lewd remarks, demeaning pictures, and unwanted sexting.
In the Thinx case, Agrawal allegedly had an obsession with one employee’s breasts, touching them without permission and asking her to expose them.
She was also accused of holding routine video conference meetings while naked in bed and frequently changing clothes in front of employees.
What’s more, there are reports that she conducted at least one FaceTime meeting while sitting on a toilet and regularly discussed her sexual exploits, including polyamory. Other reports indicate she expressed an interest in having a sexual relationship with at least one of her female employees.