If you’re a woman who’s worked in restaurants, hotels, or retail for any period of time, there’s a good chance you’ve either been sexually harassed or witnessed others being mistreated. Sexual harassment occurs in all industries, government, and nonprofits. But some types of businesses are more prone to it than others — and restaurants, hotels, and retailers have some of the worst track records when it comes to sexual harassment complaints, according to the Washington Post.

Jocelyn Frye, who studies women’s economic security at the Center for American Progress, went through a decade’s worth of data (2005 to 2015) from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that enforces federal employment anti-discrimination laws, including laws forbidding sex discrimination in the workplace, which includes sexual harassment claims.

Ms. Frye found:

• Workers in food services and retail filed more than three times as many claims as employees in the higher paying industries of finance and insurance.
• A quarter of all sexual harassment complaints came from employees working in the service sector, which is dominated by female employees often earning little pay.
• Three-quarters of those filing these complaints also claimed they were the victims of retaliation because of their opposition to harassment or participating in its investigation or involvement in lawsuits.

During the 2005 to 2015 time frame, the EEOC received about 85,000 sexual harassment complaints.

• 14% came from the hotel and food service industry,
• 13% from retail businesses, and
• 12% were from women working in manufacturing, a field where about 80% of the workforce is men.

The EEOC estimates that only 6% to 13% of sexual harassment victims lodge a formal complaint, so the complaints it receives comprise a smaller fraction of the sexual harassment that actually happens in the workplace.

Restaurants are especially notorious for allowing sexual harassment of female workers. About 90% of survey respondents by female restaurant workers stated they had encountered come-ons at work and more than half said the incidents happened weekly, according to a 2014 report from the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC).

Most of the respondents feared they would be retaliated against, including being fired, if they tried to report sexual harassment by management and customers, according to ROC. Because they felt they couldn’t safely report and deal with the situation, many restaurant workers reported deterioration in their emotional well-being, including increased depression and anxiety.

Labor Union Unite Here Local 1 in Chicago surveyed nearly 500 female workers in 2016. More than half of the respondents (58%) working in hotels and 77% of those working in casinos reported sexual harassment, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. Usually, the culprit was a guest.

Karla Altmayer, co-founder of a Chicago advocacy organization, Healing to Action, told Crain’s that low paid workers, many of whom are African American or Latino, struggle even to be believed by management. Because of financial problems they may have, low paid female workers fearing retaliation often won’t complain about the problem, put up with it, and try to stay in the job as long as possible. They put bill paying over personal comfort, safety, and well-being.

No matter what your job is or how much you’re paid, workplace sexual harassment and retaliation are illegal under state and federal laws. If you’re the victim of illegal discrimination or retaliation where you work, contact our office.  We will listen to your facts, explain the law, and together figure out how we can improve your access to social and financial justice.  Call now.  You will be glad you did.