Sexual harassment is a form of employment discrimination and is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sexual harassment is any form of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other conduct, whether physical or verbal, of a sexual nature. A person's conduct constitutes harassment when the victim's submission to or rejection of this conduct affects an individual's employment, work performance or creates an intimidating or offensive workplace environment.


The victim and the harasser can be of either sex and may be the opposite or the same sex. The harasser can be a supervisor, coworker or even a visiting vender (e.g., copy machine repair technician). Sexual harassment can also occur when a third party is subjected to or witnesses unwanted offensive physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature.


It is helpful, if the victim is comfortable, to immediately and directly speak to the harasser that the specific conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should also make their supervisor (or upper-level manager if the harasser is their supervisor) of the incident. Please let us know immediately if you are a victim so we can help you through the process. We want a safe and pleasant workplace environment for all our people.


Federal employees are only given 45 days to file a complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commision (EEOC). The EEOC is the responsible agency to process both formal and informal sexual harassment complaints for Department of the Army Civilian personnel. Please go to the External link opens in new tab or windowEEOC Sexual Harassment site for more information and assistance.


Your union is also here to help. Please contact David Rasmussen, AFGE Local 2367 Women's and Fair Practices Coordinator at External link opens in new tab or windowdrasmussen485@gmail.com or (845) 475-2756 for assistance.


Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment. We strongly encourage managers at this post to take all necessary steps to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. We want our members to know that there is zero tolerance for sexual harassment.