The laws against sexual harassment in Nevada colleges

Sadly, universities and colleges are not immune to incidents of sexual harassment. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN),  26.4% of females and 6.8% of males experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation. 5.8% of students have experienced stalking since entering college. 

These experiences don’t end with students either. Oftentimes, sexual predators prey on teachers and employees of the educational institutions. Lillian Babcock, an employee of the College of Southern Nevada recently filed a lawsuit against her own supervisor at the school, alleging that he was “grooming” her for sexual exploitation. 

The woman had been employed by the school since 2013, but said that the middle-aged man began a process of “grooming Lillian for sexual exploitation” in 2018. The lawsuit goes on to allege that the man “engaged in grooming in an effort to obtain sexual favors from Lillian.”

Babcock then filed charges through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and obtained a “right-to-sue.” 

There are usually two types of sexual harassment: 

The first type is the one that happened at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, which is called “hostile work environment,” and this term is cited in the lawsuit. This is when someone falls victim to some kind of act or behavior that literally puts them in a hostile work environment. This can be countless different things, but some common scenarios are: 

• Unwanted sexual advances or touching
• Stalking, following someone around, waiting by their car at the end of the day
• Rude, lewd comments, whether verbal or written
• Unsolicited pornography or nudity, for example forcefully exposing oneself to someone else, or sending graphic photos via text message. 

The second type of sexual harassment is “quid pro quo.” This is when someone tries to use sex in some sort of social transaction. It usually involves a power imbalance, where someone high ranking in a company or organization tries to use their power to pressure someone lower than them to engage in sexual activity with them. An example is a supervisor telling an employee that he’ll give her “employee of the month” if she sleeps with him. 

These are the main two categories of sexual harassment lawsuits, but every case is unique, and they may even crossover in some cases. 

What are the laws against sexual harassment in colleges? 

The Education Amendments of 1972 have provisions against sexual harassment in educational institutions that apply to the whole country. This act has similar statutes to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but purposed for colleges and universities. Additionally, Nevada has the Nevada Fair Employment Practices Act which considers sexual harassment a form of gender-based discrimination.

Do you need legal assistance with a sexual harassment lawsuit at a Nevada College? 

You may be entitled to compensation under the law. Get in touch with an experienced Nevada sexual harassment lawyer today to see what your options are.