In fact, the parties do not even need to be sexually interested in each other for sexual harassment to occur. The key ingredients that constitute sexual harassment is some form of sexual content and some form of discrimination occurring in the workplace. The sexual orientation and gender of the parties is not relevant to whether or not the event is or is not a form of sexual harassment. An employer cannot claim that a male employee or supervisor could not have engaged in sexually harassing another male coworker because all the parties involved are heterosexual. A heterosexual female supervisor can create a sexual harassing situation with either another heterosexual or homosexual female employee.
Sexual harassment is really sexual discrimination.
The Supreme Court allows for sexual talk within the workplace up until an employee is discriminated against. An employee must demonstrate that the sexual content they experienced led to discrimination the same as they would if they experienced race, national origin, or religious discrimination. This is an important education point for employers to educate their employees and supervisors. Sexual discrimination occurs when sexual content leads to an unfair treatment of the employee due to their sex. For example, a male employee is passed over for promotion because his male supervisor hopes to start dating the less qualified female employee.