Dont forget the "victim culture" aspect of it all.
In my home state, there is no "common sense" arbitration on what constitutes sexual harassment. The defining factor is if the victim THINKS they have been harassed, THEN THEY HAVE BEEN. Yes, the defining characteristic is the FEELING, not any specific act.
A co-worker winks and smiles, and it makes you uncomfortable? BAM-- Sexual harassment.
Somebody calls you "sweety", or "sugar" (in the southern lexicon sense), and it makes you uncomfortable? BAM-- Sexual harassment.
In the mad rush to never blame the victim (even when the sense of being victimized really *IS* absurd, and following through will ruin innocent people's lives), we have created such absurd standards.
How do you prove that something made you feel uncomfortable? YOU CANT. The court has no choice but to accept the testimony a-priori, and assume the statement is ontologically true, and proceed from there. Why do you think HR fucking HATES sexual harassment claims?
What happens when you cannot defend against an accuser? Miscarriage of justice, and kangaroo courts.
(This is one of the poster children for how well-meaning progressivism that is NOT well thought out in implementation fucks everyone over, and makes people more willing to vote for somebody like Trump.)
You can read more about it here:
https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/upload/currentissues.pdfstraight from the equal employment opportunity people.
relevant verbiage on page 4.
The arbitrating factor is the "welcomeness" of the exchanges, and guess what- they dont even need to be directed at YOU for you to be able to lodge a title VII claim with HR. You just have to feel it makes the workplace hostile or toxic. Your FEELING is the arbitrating factor.
I understand that how people feel impacts their lives, but so does having a suit brought.
Observe said chilling effects, as discussed by others prior.
Ladies, men are NOT telepaths, and they have to deal with the reactions of the rest of the women in the workplace as well. He cant just rush up to you, and follow you around like a puppy dog lavishing attention on you. Other women in the workplace will find it vulgar, and file complaints. That means men are not welcome to approach you on anything remotely related to initiating a relationship, or even could possibly, maybe, be conceived of as being related to initiating a relationship. That kind of cold turkey cessation is the only way to fully, and reliably remain in compliance with the laws as they currently are. anything else is dangerously risky in a very real, legal, "oh shit, my career and livelihood!" way.
It is why the rule of thumb is "Never date a co-worker."
The sad part is that most people spend the vast majority of their time as adults, AT THE WORKPLACE. Patterns of behavior established at the workplace can and do carry over to private life.
Then you end up with the "Why wont men ever hit on me? Am I ugly or something?" neurosis women are now complaining about. Rather than honestly evaluate how hostile laws like this have made the situation, the answer is clearly that men are pigs... somehow... for not being pigs... Yeah. That makes total sense.