By C.L. Lindsay III
13 March 2007

Dear CO-STAR:

My simple question is: Does sexual harassment have to be work or school related? Here’s my situation. There’s another student in my department that I’ve been in some conflict with over the department Web site. It’s been no big deal, but still, one night at a lecture event I saw him and wanted to let him know there were no hard feelings. I gave him a hug (it was more like extending my arm around him and patting him on the back) and asked him how he was doing. Now he is claiming that that was sexual harassment (though he is not pursuing legal action). All the information I have been able to find on the subject seems to focus on power relationships (like teacher/student, boss/employee, etc.) and seeing as we do not have a relationship like that (we are just two students). Am I reading something wrong, or is he way off base?

- Maryclare, Junior, Public College or University, Oklahoma

Maryclare:

Nope, you’re not misreading a thing. What you’ve deduced about sex harassment law is pretty much on mark. It’s a bit more complicated than that, which I’ll get to in a second. But in simple terms, you’re right and your accuser is wrong.

There are actually two kinds of sex harassment. The first, and this is what I’m pretty sure you’re thinking about, is called quid pro quo harassment. It’s basically where someone in power demands sexual favors or something along those lines. In return, the person in power either refrains from punishing or rewards the favor-giver. In other words: sleep with me or I’ll fire you. Or, sleep with me and you’ll get A’s.

There’s a second type of harassment, and it doesn’t necessarily need there to be some kind of power dynamic. It’s called hostile environment harassment. Briefly, it occurs when an employer or school or whatever allows there to be such a sexually charged environment that it interferes with the ability of someone to do their work. So if, for instance, some company allowed a few of its employees to look at pornography all the time, make sexist remarks to all the female employees and, I don’t know, have wet T-shirt contests at lunch time, they’d be allowing a hostile environment. There doesn’t need to be a power differential because it’s about the environment, not about trading sex for something.

That’s a simplification, to be sure. But you get the idea.

What you’ve done, a simple hug in a public place, doesn’t qualify under EITHER definition, I don’t think. And, I’m betting that’d be true even if you were this kid’s professor.

Really, it seems to me that your accuser really knows very little about the law. He just wants to embarrass you by making crazy and outlandish accusations that include a few legal buzzwords.

If I were you, next time I see him I’d give him a little lesson in the law. Explain how the law works and tell him that what he’s saying is just plain ridiculous. In other words, let him know he’s embarrassing himself rather than you by doing this. I’ll bet he stops.

Good luck.

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C.L. Lindsay III is the founding executive director of CO-STAR, the Coalition for Student & Academic Rights, and author of the book "The College Student’s Guide to the Law: Get a Grade Changed, Keep Your Stuff Private, Throw a Police-Free Party and More!" in bookstores now. CO-STAR is a network of lawyers, professors and students who work to protect academic freedom and constitutional rights at college campuses nationwide. If you have a question for CO-STAR, log on to their Web site at www.co-star.org.

The material in this column addresses general legal issues only; is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such; and may or may not be appropriate to a specific situation. Laws and procedures change frequently and are subject to differing interpretations. This column is not intended to create, and does not create, a lawyer-client relationship and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.

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© 2007, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.