Final answer:
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal laws that prohibit sexual harassment at work. This includes behavior that detrimentally influences employment status or engenders a hostile workplace. Key figures have shaped the EEOC's role in protecting employees from discrimination and ensuring compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a key agency enforcing laws against workplace discrimination, including sexual harassment. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 plays a pivotal role in this enforcement, as it includes provisions that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
The EEOC's definition of sexual harassment encompasses unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, particularly when such behavior affects an individual's employment, impedes their work performance, or cultivates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
Historical figures like Phyllis Ann Wallace and Eleanor Holmes Norton have made significant contributions to the evolution of the EEOC's mission, ensuring the protection of employees from discrimination based on various protected classes, and streamlining processes to address violations effectively. Title IX extends similar protections within colleges and universities receiving federal funds.
Sexual harassment is understood as behavior that is unmistakably unwanted and adversely impacts a person's employment status or creates an oppressive work atmosphere. Key to the EEOC's role is the mandate to investigate claims of such discrimination and protect employees who report these violations. This encompasses both the creation of policies and the execution of actions to curb the perpetuation of discrimination in the workplace.