Under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs when an employer, or someone with a position of authority over the employee or job applicant, conditions a promotion,employment, higher wages or receipt of benefits on the employee's submission to the employer's sexual demands. For example, when a supervisor promises an employee a promotion if she will go on a date with him, or if a manager tells an employee that he will be fired unless he sleeps with her. Frequently, if the employee rejects the employer's sexual demands, the employee ends up losing his or her job. In situations involving quid pro quo sexual harassment,California employers are generally held strictly liable for the actions of its supervisors, managers, or directors because the law has determined that such employees are acting on behalf of their employer.

Authored by Stan Grombchevsky of Spray, Gould and Bowers, LLP