Discussions of workplace sexual harassment often center the misconduct of co-workers and supervisors. Frequently, harassment comes from within the company. People who work together every day are in an ideal position to abuse their authority or create a hustle work environment for another employee.

However, in many industries, workers may have direct contact with customers or clients. Those outside parties can also be a source of sexual harassment. The following are some of the most common ways that customers engage in sexual harassment.

Attempting quid pro quo harassment

In a scenario where a worker should receive a gratuity for their services, customers may try to leverage their temporary financial power for inappropriate personal gain. Customers may threaten to withhold a tip, or clients may try to deny a salesperson an agreement if they don’t first concede to go on a date or give that party their personal contact information.

Quid pro quo harassment can leave workers in an awkward position where their pay or job security might depend on them acquiescing to unwanted advances. People may be at risk of additional harassment regardless of how they respond to such conduct.

Inappropriate and offensive flirting

Sometimes, the party sexually harassing a salesperson or service worker thinks they are being flirtatious. They may make repeated unwanted advances that could include very crass language or offensive jokes. Their language on its own could be enough to constitute harassment. When coupled with the unreciprocated romantic overtures, it can be a very difficult situation for a customer-facing employee to handle.

Touching a worker without their consent

Long gone are the days when people expected servers and other professionals to turn a blind eye to inappropriate physical contact. Some customers, especially those at establishments that serve alcohol, might become inappropriately aggressive towards service workers as they continue flirting. In some cases, they might go so far as to strike a worker on their behind or grope them inappropriately. Such contact might blur the line between harassment and outright assault in some cases.

Employers should listen to reasonable concerns brought by employees about the conduct of customers. The failure of a business to protect workers from customer sexual harassment or the decision to punish them for reporting the harassment might mean that the company has also violated the rights of that worker.

Customer sexual harassment can sometimes lead to sexual harassment lawsuits against employers. Reporting customer sexual harassment and keeping a record of what occurs can help workers fight back if their employers don’t offer them appropriate support in the wake of mistreatment.