Define the reasonable victim standard and explain how it is used in sexual harassment cases.

The reasonable victim standard is defined as “viewing the harassing activity from the perspective of a
a reasonable person experiencing the harassing activity including gender-specific sociological, cultural,
and other factors” (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2019, p. 450).
The reasonable victim standard is used in sexual harassment cases to determine the victim’s perspective
and not the stereotyped notion of what is acceptable behavior. This standard is used if when viewing a
sexual harassment case to determine if sexual harassment did indeed occur. When evaluating the
alleged sexual harassment, the reasonable person standard is used as an objective standard of
perception based on a reasonable person.
An example in a sexual harassment case would be a person who is reasonable and in the victims,
position being harassed would find that the harassment and the inappropriate behavior of the individual
harassing the victim to change the working conditions and environment due to the harmful nature.

Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, L. P. (2019). Employment Law for Business (9th ed.). United States
of America: McGraw-Hill Education.

In chapter 10, page 508, review the scenario presented in question 8. Answer the question at the end of
the scenario.

After reviewing the scenario there are many uncertainties that exist within the scenario. It is very
doubtful that the employee would ever win the Title VII suit that she brought against her employer. The
employee is combining her allegations of gender and identity discrimination together. Furthermore,
there is absolutely no evidence that the employee showed within the scenario to assume that the
employer discriminated against the employee based on their sexual orientation. The employee claimed
in their suit that her appearance and the way she looked was in question by her employer. She further
stated that her appearance was more masculine. The difference between sexual orientation and gender
identity is that gender correlates with a person's assigned sex at birth. Sexual orientation has to do with
the gender to which the individual is attracted to such as being heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.

Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, L. P. (2019). Employment Law for Business (9th ed.). United States
of America: McGraw-Hill Education