What evidence is needed to prove sexual harrassment?

My boss yells across the office and the warehouse that so and so is staring at my butt, only butt is not the word he uses, or he yells for so and so to quite staring at my butt. He also makes numerous other comments of sexual natures. I have also seen pictures of half-naked and naked women on his computer through the window of the door next to his desk. He now has a privacy screen so we can no longer see what he is looking at. Do I need recordings of what he says and pictures of what is on his computer screen as proof of his sexual harrassment? I am not the only female there that he makes comments to and about.

CSLK:

Do I need recordings of what he says and pictures of what is on his computer screen as proof of his sexual harrassment?

The difference in winning a case or losing a case is in the quality of the evidence.

That you SAY he has done something or SAY you have seen something is one level (rather low on the scale).

Having another employee testify in court to corroborate your statement is a much higer level of evidence. But chances of another employee risking her job is slim.

Recordings of what he says and photos of the pictures on his computer are the highest and best level of evidence.

Since he is shouting this out for everybody to hear, there is no law against recording his public utterances. And if you can sneak a digital camera into his office to photographe his computer when the pictures are visible, that would also be great.

Once you have the evidence, I believe that you have to report his behavior to owners or corporate officers in writing accompanied by duplicates of your evidence. But you might be wise to consult an employment attorney who specializes in sexual harassment claims for instruction on how to get it right. One way or another you might find yourself out of a job, so you at least want to pave the way for a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Thank you for your response. I do have two other employees that will testify because they are also victims of his sexual harrassment. I have not discussed this issue with any of the other females that are also victims. I am going to purchase a personal recorder and carry it with me at all times. Sneaking pictures of his computer screen is probably not a possibility, since he does not leave the images on his screen when he is not at his desk and closes the sites if anyone walks up to his desk. I already have the issue of being out of a job taken care of. I am one year away from graduating from college as a Paralegal.

Have you told this boss, or the person over him, or HR that you are offended by his behavior?

CSLK:

I have also seen pictures of half-naked and naked women on his computer through the window of the door next to his desk. He now has a privacy screen so we can no longer see what he is looking at.

While completely inappropriate (and probably against company policy), whether or not this piece of your complaint could be considered sexual harrassment is a little iffy.  If he had it on wide display whether others could regularly see it, that would be a different story.  However, if people only see it through peeping through the door (especially if peering into his office for no reason), I doubt it would be considered SH.  Now, he has a privacy screen so no one can see it unless sitting directly in front of his computer.  If you had reason to be directly in front of his computer and saw it (especially if he purposefully had you there to see it), that could be SH.

CSLK:

My boss yells across the office and the warehouse that so and so is staring at my butt, only butt is not the word he uses, or he yells for so and so to quite staring at my butt. He also makes numerous other comments of sexual natures.

UNWELCOME comments of a sexual nature could definitely be SH.  If you are comfortable, you can politely asks him to stop, but you are not required to do so.  However, you are required to give the employer the opportunity for the behavior to stop.  Report it to either HR or appropriate management; they then have to make the behavior stop.  If it doesn't, then you would have an actionable case for SH.

If their jobs are on the line--your coworkers may develop instant memory failure or worse, reinvent history --at least be careful and don't assume anything and keep your activities a complete secret..

If you can discretely record his public utterance--all the better--and keep such stuff some place off premises and safe, also make time logs of his more nasty comments and  porno  screens visible to others.

But if you get caught making records of boss--expect to get assigned to trash detail at midnight in a bad section of town and fired the next week for some cause . Keep it secret.

In the meantime develop a thick skin and deaf ear. I've seen folks men and women operate with trench mouths for years then get fired on the spot for some out of context word or gesture .Probably get fired faster if members of public were to enter his office and register a complaint higher up.

I know of two people who got canned for having computer full of porn on company premises but the process of alerting  senior management was dangerous for those involved and  in one example the messengers narrowly avoided being fired and in both cases nothing happened until other events turned up on radar screen .

I do have problems with some  workers who seem to come to work best dressed  for an interview as a pole dancer then wonder about stares and comments. --there is no perfect answer.

He's resolved the probelm with his computer screen being visible, so drop that.

Have you gone to HR about the sexual comments? Have you asked him to stop?