More Men Claiming Sexual Harassment

Not only have men been hit harder by the recession, but a new study shows they are also increasingly reporting claims of sexual harassment. Around 16.4 percent (2,094 incidents) of all sexual-harassment claims were filed by men in the fiscal year 2009, up from 15.4 percent (1,869 claims) in 2006, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employment lawyers believe that “locker room” attitudes and verbal abuse have been at the heart of many new claims. "More types of behaviors are put in the sexual-harassment bucket when men are the victims," one lawyer says. Up until the recession, another added, men might have simply dealt with sexual harassment by finding a new job instead of suing. But with fewer jobs on the market, that choice is more limited.