There’s no doubt that sexual harassment can crater your career. When reported, sexual harassment allegations oftentimes lead to retaliation, which means there’s a fair chance that you’ll face an adverse employment action like demotion or termination. And that piece aside, sexual harassment can leave you feeling embarrassed, frightened, demeaned and psychologically damaged. Taken together, then, the impact of sexual harassment can be life-altering.
Fortunately, you might be able to hold your employer accountable and recover compensation for harm that’s been caused to you by taking legal action. To succeed on a sexual harassment or retaliation claim, though, you’ll need a strong case. While this will certainly mean talking to witnesses and taking notes of any sexually harassing behavior, it also means being cognizant of how social media use may impact your case.
How social media may affect your sexual harassment case
Social media can be a great space to unleash your frustrations, connect with friends and expand your professional network. But it’s use can also prove problematic for your sexual harassment case. For example, your posts may demonstrate that the encounter in question was welcomed or that your claimed psychological harm isn’t as bad as you claim it to be. Therefore, it’s helpful to stay off social media until your sexual harassment case plays out.
On the flip side, social media can give you powerful evidence upon which to build your case. Social media is frequently misused for sexual harassment, so oftentimes it’s just a matter of a victim preserving those communications to use as leverage. For example, if your supervisor sends you Facebook messages asking for a sexual favor in exchange for an employment benefit, like promotion, or to avoid an adverse employment action, like termination, then sexual harassment has occurred, and you can use that message as direct evidence to support your case.
Even if the social media in question doesn’t involve direct messaging, you might still be able to use it to build your claim. For example, if your boss regularly makes public statements that attack your physical appearance to the point that those statements invade the workplace and create a hostile environment, then you might be able to use those posts as circumstantial evidence of the work culture to which you’ve been subjected. Be as thorough as possible here so that you can be sure to capture as much evidence as possible.
How can you preserve social media evidence?
The easiest way is to simply capture screenshots whenever you can. You can also print out any direct messages that you’ve received. Just make sure you also document the date and time that the messages were received and try to make it clear how you know that the posts came from the person who claim to have sent them. It could be beneficial to talk to your co-workers, too, to see if they’ve observed any social media posts that could be relevant to your sexual harassment case.
If you’ve posted on your social media, it may be a good idea to delete posts that could prove problematic. Also, restrict your settings so that they become as private as possible. This should give you an extra layer of protection as you navigate your claim.
Fight to bring sexual harassment to an end and to hold your employer accountable
Sexual harassment can wreak havoc on your life. And when it does, it can be tempting to shrink away from it all and hope that it goes away, or to simply leave your job. But you can’t afford to let your employer get away with what they’ve done to you. So, be brave, be bold, and seek out the assistance needed to build and pursue the sexual harassment case needed to recoup your losses and protect your career.