Workplace sexual harassment can be demoralizing and humiliating. Quid pro quo harassment can make workers feel like their career development depends on compromising their personal values. Many people suffer in silence for weeks or months before they decide to take action.
When they do finally report the matter, they find themselves in a difficult position. Sexual harassment often occurs behind closed doors where there are no witnesses. It is the victim’s word against the claims of the perpetrator. Particularly in scenarios involving quid pro quo harassment, the person abusing their workplace authority may have more credibility to others at the same company.
Those trying to hold a company accountable for allowing workplace sexual harassment usually need evidence corroborating their allegations of misconduct. Can those experiencing sexual harassment record what happens using their mobile phones?
Michigan law allows for recording
Every state has different statutes related to privacy and the decision to record interactions or private conversations. Michigan’s policies are helpful for those experiencing sexual harassment. Michigan is a one-party consent state.
Only one of the people involved in a conversation or interaction has to give their consent for a recording to be legal. In other words, the person experiencing sexual harassment could use a mobile phone or similar device to make audio recordings or capture video footage of the harassment that they experience.
That footage does not break the law and could theoretically be admissible during a civil lawsuit. Of course, carrying around a phone and blatantly trying to record other people is likely to deter them from engaging in overt misconduct.
Victims of sexual harassment often need to look at other ways to document their experiences. Talking with coworkers after incidents occur can create corroborating witnesses. Keeping a journal that details the specifics of each incident, including when and where it occurs and what exactly happens or what the other party says, could go a long way toward helping people prove they have experienced harassment in the workplace.
Those hoping to fight sexual harassment may need to discuss their situation to plan out an appropriate way to prove what has happened. Gathering evidence is the first step toward demanding justice in a workplace sexual harassment scenario.