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Are You Accused of Sexual Harassment?
If you’re accused of sexual harassment in Ontario, you may need a lawyer’s advice. If you are charged with criminal harassment, you must be advised and represented by a Toronto sexual harassment defence lawyer, and you must contact that lawyer as quickly as possible.
Generally speaking, sexual harassment in a business, educational, or professional setting happens when a person is a target of harassment because of that person’s gender identity, sexual orientation, or gender expression.
Sexual harassment is defined by the Ontario Human Rights Code as “vexatious” comments or behaviors that are “known or ought to be known to be unwelcome.” Sexual harassment can be a pattern over a substantial period of time, or it can be a single sexual harassment incident.
What Behaviors May Constitute Sexual Harassment?
What actions and behaviours constitute sexual harassment in Ontario? Specific behaviours that may constitute sexual harassment in an educational, business, or professional environment include but are not necessarily limited to:
- asking for or demanding sex in exchange for a favor or benefit
- unwanted touching or making unnecessary physical contact (including hugs)
- using insulting or rude language toward women (or men, depending on the situation)
- calling someone derogatory, gender-specific names or making sexual jokes
- making sexual comments about someone’s physical appearance
- sharing or posting sexually explicit pornographic videos, images, cartoons, or graffiti
- bragging about one’s sexual prowess
How Does the Ontario Human Rights Code Apply in Educational Settings?
The Ontario Human Rights Code specifically bans sexual harassment in educational settings, including primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions. The ban on sexual harassment includes school-sponsored cultural and sports activities, functions, field trips, and tutoring.
Educators in Ontario are legally obligated to take active measures to prevent sexual harassment incidents and to respond to such incidents. To the extent that they are able, Ontario educators must maintain harassment-free environments, and they may not ignore sexual harassment complaints.
An educational institution may act to prevent sexual harassment incidents by establishing a precise and comprehensive anti-harassment policy that sets forth how sexual harassment incidents will be handled properly and promptly.
How Does the Code Apply in Business and Professional Settings?
The Ontario Human Rights Code also bans sexual harassment in business and professional settings. Sexual harassment at the workplace can impair a person’s ability to earn a living, to feel secure and safe at work, and to do the best possible job.
Like educators, employers in Ontario are legally obligated to take active measures to deter sexual harassment and, to the extent that they are able, to maintain a harassment-free environment. An employer may also be deemed liable for sexual harassment incidents that occur during company parties, business trips, and other employer-sponsored functions.
A victim of sexual harassment at an Ontario school or workplace should first try to resolve the matter through the internal resolution mechanisms that the employer or the school already has in place.
If a sexual harassment accusation at a school or workplace cannot be resolved internally, the victim may submit a sexual harassment complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO). That complaint must be filed within a year of the sexual harassment incident.
What is Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal?
Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal resolves discrimination and harassment claims brought under the Human Rights Code. The HRTO first attempts to settle disputes through mediation, but if the parties won’t agree to mediation, or if mediation doesn’t settle the matter, a hearing is held.
HRTO hearings are legal proceedings. Both parties present their cases to an adjudicator, a neutral decision-maker who is trained and experienced in sexual harassment and discrimination law. If you are accused of sexual harassment in Ontario and required to appear before the HRTO, you should be advised and accompanied by an Ontario sexual harassment defence lawyer.
Your lawyer will investigate the incident or incidents in question to determine if sexual harassment, in fact, took place or if the claim is based on a misunderstanding, a mistake, a misinterpretation, or a fabrication.
If harassment or discrimination is proven, the HRTO may order the payment of monetary damages to the victim. Employers and educational institutions may also be liable for monetary damages if they fail to investigate properly a complaint of sexual harassment or discrimination.
When is Sexual Harassment a Crime?
In every province, sexual harassment is a crime – sometimes called stalking – when it causes someone to fear for his or her safety or another’s safety. It may include repeatedly or obsessively following someone, communicating with someone, or surveilling someone’s home or workplace.
The most serious sexual harassment involves actual or attempted physical sexual assault or the threat of assault. If a victim is touched in any sexual way or is forced into any sexual act without consent, the perpetrator may be charged with criminal sexual assault.
When Should You Contact a Sexual Harassment Defence Lawyer?
A conviction for criminal harassment or criminal sexual assault can send the offender to prison for a number of years. If you are charged with criminal harassment or sexual assault in or near the Toronto area, you must contact an Ontario sexual harassment defence lawyer immediately.
If you are the target of a sexual harassment complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, you also need to be advised – from the very beginning – by a Toronto sexual harassment defence lawyer.
The legal processes and procedures for sexual harassment complaints in Ontario are quite complicated and confusing, so you must locate a sexual harassment defence lawyer who will guide you throughout the legal process and explain that process to you clearly and precisely.
Let William Jaksa Criminal Litigation Advise and Represent You
If you are accused of sexual harassment at a school or workplace in or near the Toronto area, currently or in the future, Toronto criminal defence lawyer William Jaksa will provide the legal advice and insights you need, ensure that your rights are honored, and ensure that you are treated justly and fairly throughout the legal process.
Toronto defence lawyer William Jaksa has almost two decades of criminal defence experience. He uses his considerable legal knowledge and skills to develop effective defence strategies for defendants who are charged with criminal harassment or criminal sexual assault.
Defence lawyer William Jaksa’s impressive and lengthy record of courtroom victories speaks for itself. If you are charged with criminal harassment or with criminal sexual assault in the Toronto area, contact William Jaksa Criminal Litigation immediately by calling 647-951-8078.
