Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination that involves unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

• Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of a person’s job, pay, or career, or
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct by a person is used as a basis for career or employment decisions affecting that person, or
• Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.  Workplace conduct, to be actionable as “abusive work environment” harassment, need not result in concrete psychological harm to the victim, but rather need only be so severe or pervasive that a reasonable person would perceive, and the victim does perceive, the work environment as hostile or abusive.  Any person in a supervisory or command position who uses or condones any form of sexual behavior to control, influence, or effect the career, pay, or job of a military member or civilian employee is engaging in sexual harassment.  Similarly, any military member or civilian employee who makes deliberate or repeated unwelcome verbal comments, gestures, or physical contact of a sexual nature in the workplace is also engaging in sexual harassment.

The Manpower Equal Opportunity Branch is responsible for developing and administering the equal opportunity policies for the Marine Corps. 

Local assistance can be obtained by contacting the Command Equal Opportunity Advisor at (843) 228-2647 or (843) 228-4919.