Written by Mike Christensen. Read more about the author.
Remote work changed a lot about how people do their jobs. It also changed how harassment happens. Zoom calls, Slack messages, text threads, emails, and direct messages on social media have become the new venues for the same old problems. If you work from home in Ohio and a coworker, manager, or client crosses the line — through a screen — you may be wondering whether the law still protects you.
The short answer is yes. In 2026, Ohio and federal law both recognize that sexual harassment does not require physical proximity to be actionable. If you work in Columbus and the harassment reached you through a company device, a work platform, or during a work-related interaction — even a virtual one — you likely have grounds for a claim. Michael D. Christensen Law Offices, LLC has worked with employees facing exactly this kind of situation, and the legal framework protecting them is real and enforceable.
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What “Remote Harassment” Actually Looks Like?
Not everyone realizes that what they are experiencing qualifies as harassment because there is a screen between them and the person doing it. Here are examples of remote conduct that courts and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have treated as workplace sexual harassment:
Explicit or suggestive messages sent through Slack, Teams, email, or any company communication tool. Video calls where a manager or colleague exposes themselves, makes sexual comments, or creates a sexualized atmosphere. Repeated unwanted contact after work hours through work channels. Sharing or forwarding sexually explicit images within work threads. Comments about a person’s body or appearance during virtual meetings.
The Pew Research Center has documented how online harassment has grown as remote work has expanded. According to their research, a significant share of adults have experienced some form of online harassment — and employment settings are not exempt from that trend.
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How Ohio Law Covers Remote Harassment?
Ohio has its own anti-discrimination statute: the Ohio Civil Rights Act (OCRA), codified under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4112. The OCRA prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace, and Ohio courts have consistently held that the harassment does not need to occur in a physical office to trigger employer liability. What matters is whether the conduct is connected to the employment relationship.
Federal law reinforces this. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — enforced by the EEOC — defines sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination and applies to employers with 15 or more employees. The EEOC’s guidance makes clear that the medium through which harassment occurs does not determine whether it qualifies as unlawful conduct. Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute provides a thorough breakdown of Title VII’s scope if you want to read the statute directly.
Under Ohio law, smaller employers — those with four or more employees — fall under the OCRA rather than Title VII. This matters in Columbus because many people work for smaller tech firms, startups, or local businesses that may not meet the federal threshold but still have legal obligations under state law.
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Does It Matter That You Were Working From Home?
This is where things get more specific, and where a lot of remote workers in Ohio get confused.
Your physical location — your apartment, your home office, your kitchen table — does not remove you from workplace protections. Ohio courts look at the nature of the relationship and the context of the communication. If a manager sent you a sexually explicit message at 10 p.m. through the company’s project management platform, that message is tied to the work relationship. It does not become personal conduct simply because you were not in an office building when you received it.
The same logic applies to after-hours video calls, company email chains, and work-related group chats. The American Bar Association has acknowledged that employment law has had to adapt to remote work environments, and courts have generally extended existing harassment protections to cover digital conduct occurring within the scope of employment.
One nuance worth knowing: if the harassment came through a personal social media account with no connection to work — say, a coworker found your personal Instagram and started sending messages there — the employer’s liability is less clear-cut. But even in those situations, if the person harassing you is your supervisor, or if you reported the conduct to HR and nothing was done, Ohio courts may still find a basis for a claim depending on the circumstances.
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What About Harassment During Remote Interviews or Work Events?
This question comes up more than you might expect. Job applicants in Columbus have been subjected to harassment during video interviews — comments about their appearance, inappropriate questions, or outright solicitation. Ohio law protects applicants, not just current employees. If someone harassed you during a remote job interview, that still falls within the scope of the OCRA and potentially Title VII.
Virtual work events — team happy hours on Zoom, company webinars, remote onboarding sessions — are also covered. Courts treat these as extensions of the workplace. Behavior that would be unacceptable in a conference room does not become acceptable because participants are on a video call from home.
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Gathering Evidence of Remote Harassment
One practical advantage of remote harassment over in-person harassment: it leaves a trail. Text messages, emails, screenshots of Slack or Teams conversations, video recording notifications, and even metadata can all serve as evidence. Here is what to do before you file a claim:
Save everything. Do not delete messages, even ones that make you uncomfortable to keep. Screenshot conversations and store them somewhere outside the work platform — if your employer deactivates your account, you may lose access. Record dates, times, and what was said or sent. If witnesses were present on video calls, note their names. If you made a complaint internally and received a written response (or no response), keep that too.
The FindLaw Legal Resources library has practical guidance on documenting harassment claims, which can help you understand what attorneys and agencies look for when reviewing your case.
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Filing a Claim: Your Options in Ohio in 2026
You have two primary paths for filing a remote sexual harassment claim in Ohio.
The EEOC / Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) Route
Before filing a lawsuit under Title VII, you must first file a charge with the EEOC or the OCRC. In 2026, you generally have 300 days from the date of the last discriminatory act to file with the EEOC (because Ohio has a state agency with equivalent authority). The EEOC and OCRC have work-sharing agreements, so filing with one typically counts as filing with both.
Once you file, the agency will investigate. They may attempt mediation. If they issue a “right to sue” letter, you can proceed to federal or state court.
Filing Directly Under the Ohio Civil Rights Act
Ohio also allows you to bypass the federal agency route and file directly in state court under the OCRA, typically within two years of the discriminatory conduct. This can be a faster path for some employees. A Columbus Employment Law Attorney can advise you on which route makes more sense for your specific facts.
Justia’s legal information portal has searchable Ohio case law if you want to see how Ohio courts have handled harassment claims in recent years.
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What Damages Can You Recover?
If your claim succeeds, Ohio law and federal law both allow you to recover for:
Lost wages and benefits (if you were fired or forced to quit), emotional distress, the cost of therapy or medical treatment related to the harassment, attorney’s fees, and in some cases punitive damages. Research from the National Institutes of Health has documented the psychological toll that workplace harassment takes on victims, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. These are real injuries, and Ohio courts treat them as such.
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Employer Liability for Remote Harassment
A question many Columbus workers ask is whether their employer is liable for what a coworker or supervisor does online. The answer depends in part on the employer’s response once they knew or should have known about the conduct.
If a manager is doing the harassing, the employer generally faces automatic or near-automatic liability. If a coworker is doing the harassing, the employer can be held liable if they knew about it and failed to act. This is why documenting your internal complaint matters so much. Harvard Business Review has written about how remote work has complicated HR response systems — but from a legal standpoint, the obligation to respond does not disappear because the workplace is virtual.
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Talk to a Sexual Harassment Attorney in Columbus
Remote and online harassment is a real legal issue, and Ohio law gives workers real tools to address it. If you are dealing with this situation and are unsure whether what happened to you qualifies as a claim worth pursuing, talking to an attorney is the clearest path to an answer.
Michael D. Christensen Law Offices, LLC serves clients in Columbus and throughout Ohio. Our practice handles sexual harassment cases with the seriousness they deserve, including situations involving remote work, virtual communications, and digital evidence. You can read about our experience to understand the background we bring to these cases.
Schedule a consultation to discuss the specifics of your situation. You can also call us directly at (614) 300-5000. Our office is located at 3341 W Broad St, Columbus, OH 43204, United States.
What happened to you through a screen is not less real than what happens in person. Ohio law agrees — and we are ready to help you act on that.