Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. While some forms of sexual harassment involve only inappropriate comments, many involve some sort of unwelcome physical contact. If you’re being touched in an unwanted way by someone you work with, you're being sexually harassed under the law.

For example, many employees who experience unwanted physical contact in the workplace may endure their situations because they are unsure over whether this type of harassment, touching the arms, back, stomach, etc., is actionable. They may justify a person’s behavior through thoughts such as:

“He’s touchy-feely; that’s just the way he is.”
“He doesn’t mean any harm, it’s not my breast or my ass.”
“It’s not that big of a deal, everyone touches.”
“I don’t want to cause trouble (fear of retaliation).”

Although any un-consensual touching is improper, the following are some examples of unwanted touching that has been concluded as sexual harassment:

Groping or touching of body parts (not limited to intimate parts like breasts or crotch)

Caressing or massaging someone without their consent even if it’s just their shoulders

Brushing or rubbing against another person’s body pretending to “squeeze by”

Standing too close so as to cause a contact with someone (even if its forcing you to make the contact because of their close proximity)

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