Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in Texas
Does this constitute sexual harassment?
If in an isolated incident, an employee accidentally attaches a pornographic image to a e-mail to another employee, along with several other work-related files-can this be considered sexual harassment and therefore grounds for dismissal? The sender is in one state, the receiver is in another- they have never spoken over the telephone or even met in person. The HR department nor the receiver of the e-mail have ever contacted the sender for
explanation. I would love to get a legal opinion.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Does this constitute sexual harassment?
If you are asking whether the sender can be fired for the incident, the answer is yes. Most States have a law which allows employers to fire employees "at will", which means without cause. Added to the situation is the hightened sensitivity employers have to complaints about offensive conduct in the workplace. Some companies have zero tolerance policies, which is perfectly legal. The only hope the sender would have is if he could show that the company applies its policies in a discriminatory manner. Other than that, the termination is probably legal.
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