Guam § 4701 - Legislative Findings and Intent.

§ 4701. Legislative Findings and Intent.

(a) I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII applies to employers with fifteen (15) or more

employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies and to labor

organizations, as well as to the federal government.

(b) Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a

sexual nature, constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s

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employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating,

hostile, or offensive work environment.

(c) Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including, but not limited to, the

following:

(1) The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be

of the opposite sex.

(2) The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another

area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.

(3) The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the

offensive conduct.

(4) Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.

(5) The conduct may include the use of profanity, offensive language and expletives, derogatory

comments or sexually offensive speech to berate, discipline or intimidate employees, or subordinates.

(6) The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.

(d) I Liheslatura further finds that it is helpful for the victim to inform the harasser directly that the

conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or

grievance system available.

(e) When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission (EEOC) looks at the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual

advances, and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination on the allegations is

made from the facts on a case-by-case basis.

(f) Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are

encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly

communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They can do so by providing sexual

harassment training to their employees, and by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and

taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.

(g) It is also unlawful to retaliate against an individual for opposing employment practices that

discriminate based on sex, or for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an

investigation, proceeding, or litigation under Title VII.

2024 NOTE: Subsection designations added and modified pursuant to authority granted by 1 GCA § 1606.