Although workplace sexual harassment is illegal, companies often turn a blind eye to misconduct that affects one worker. Proving workplace sexual harassment claims can feel like an uphill battle. The worker enduring a hostile work environment or quid pro quo harassment may not have much evidence to support their allegations.
Many sexual harassment scenarios devolve into he-said, she-said situations. When two people provide vastly different versions of events, neither employers nor the courts may know how to react.
There are several ways for workers to document sexual harassment as it occurs. One tactic involves keeping a journal with the details of each incident. Others might hope to acquire more conclusive, objective evidence. People have come to rely on mobile devices to gather evidence in all kinds of situations, ranging from car crashes to criminal confrontations. Can workers experiencing harassment on the job use smart devices to capture video or audio recordings?
State law does permit recording
Every state has different rules when it comes to recording private conversations. Some states are two-party consent states. In plain English, everyone involved in the conversation must give explicit permission to the recording of the conversation.
West Virginia is a one-party consent state. Only one of the people involved in an interaction or conversation has to consent to a recording for it to be legal. The person enduring sexual harassment can consent to a recording and can potentially obtain very strong proof of inappropriate requests or abusive conversations.
That being said, people may notice when one worker has their phone out regularly, especially if they handle it in the midst of an interaction. Recordings are theoretically legal but can be harder to obtain than those experiencing sexual harassment may realize at first.
Evidence is necessary in cases involving legal action. Employees who have the right support when pursuing their sexual harassment claims have the best chances of prevailing when taking the matter to their employers or to the civil court.
Exploring the situation that produced the claims of sexual harassment can help the affected worker determine the best way to gather evidence. They may need proof if they hope to force the company to take action or to bring a successful lawsuit against their employer.