Sexual Harassment by Non-Employees: What Every Workplace Must Know

Nastya Ivanova

A customer makes a sexual comment to an employee. She tells her manager. The manager says, “Just avoid him when he comes in.” But the customer keeps coming back, and avoiding him means the employee can no longer do parts of her job.

“He doesn’t work here” may explain why the manager cannot discipline him as an employee. It does not mean the business has nothing to do.

Sexual harassment by a customer, client, patient, vendor, or other non-employee can create legal risk for an employer. Under an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulation, an employer may be responsible for sexual harassment of an employee by a non-employee when it knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action. The EEOC also considers how much control the employer had over that person. Courts may apply different standards in particular jurisdictions, so the outcome of a specific claim is not automatic. Read 29 CFR § 1604.11(e).

If you are dealing with a report right now, the practical starting point is this: make the employee safe, find out what happened, take an action suited to the risk, and check whether it worked. The rest of this guide explains what that can look like and where the legal questions become more complicated.

Table of Contents

Who Is a “Non-Employee” in This Situation?

Think about the people your staff may encounter because of their work, even though those people are not employed by your business:

A shopper speaking to a cashier
A hotel guest interacting with housekeeping staff
A patient or visitor speaking to a healthcare worker
A client messaging an account manager
A delivery driver, vendor representative, or outside contractor visiting a workplace

The employee’s work may take them outside the business’s building. A sales representative visiting a client, for example, does not stop being at work simply because the meeting happens at the client’s location. Whether the employer is legally responsible still depends on the facts and applicable law.

There is another distinction worth making early. This article is mainly about a non-employee harassing someone who works for the employer. Whether an independent contractor who is the person being harassed can bring an employment discrimination claim against that business is a separate question. Genuinely independent contractors generally are not covered as employees by the federal laws the EEOC enforces; classification and state or local law can change the analysis. See the EEOC’s coverage explanation.

What Makes the Employer’s Response Matter?

Picture a manager learning that a customer has been following an employee around the store. There is a meaningful difference between saying, “Let me know if it happens again,” and taking steps to find out what happened, prevent another encounter, and follow up.

The employer’s response is not judged by a universal checklist. Relevant questions include:

What did management know? Was there a report, a witnessed incident, or an earlier pattern involving the same person?
How serious was the conduct? An unwanted comment and an assault require different immediate responses.
What could the business actually control? Could it restrict a customer’s access, contact a vendor, change who handles a client account, or arrange a safer way to deliver care?
Did the action stop the problem? A warning that the person ignores is not the end of the matter.

Not every uncomfortable encounter amounts to unlawful harassment under federal law. The EEOC explains that a hostile-work-environment claim generally involves conduct severe or pervasive enough to create an abusive environment. An isolated incident may fall short unless it is extremely serious. But an employer need not wait for a judge to decide that conduct is unlawful before taking a workplace concern seriously.

Two Real Cases Show Why the Details Matter

A customer kept coming back: EEOC v. Costco

In a case involving a Costco employee in Illinois, a customer repeatedly approached, followed, and watched her at work. According to the court record, she told management she was frightened. Managers spoke to the customer, but the encounters continued. She eventually obtained a no-contact order.

A jury found for the EEOC on the hostile-work-environment claim. On appeal, the Seventh Circuit concluded that a reasonable jury could find the customer’s conduct severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment. The court also explained that an employer is not automatically liable merely because a customer harasses an employee: its own response matters.

The practical lesson: telling a customer to stop is not necessarily enough if the behavior continues and the employer knows it.

A client meeting ended differently: Bivens v. Zep

In a separate case, a sales representative visited a client’s motel. The client locked the office door and asked her to date him. She reported the incident to her supervisor, who reassigned the client so she would not have to deal with him again.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed judgment for the employer. In its 2025 opinion, the court adopted a stricter approach to employer liability for harassment by a non-employee than the EEOC’s “knew or should have known” formulation and the approach used by most other federal appeals courts to address the issue. The court found no evidence that this employer intended the harassment to occur.

The practical lesson: neither “a complaint means the company is automatically liable” nor “it was a client, so the company cannot be liable” is a reliable nationwide rule. The facts, the employer’s actions, and the controlling law all matter. It is also worth noting that a court’s decision about liability does not determine whether the employee deserved to have the concern addressed.

What Should a Manager Do When Someone Reports an Incident?

A manager does not need to solve every legal question on the spot. They do need to avoid making the employee carry the problem alone.

Start with four practical questions:

Is anyone in immediate danger? If there is a threat, unwanted touching, or a risk of another encounter, address safety first. In an emergency, contact the appropriate emergency service.
What do we know so far? Ask what happened, when and where it happened, who may have seen it, and whether there were earlier incidents. Do not require the employee to label the conduct “illegal” before you listen.
What can we change now? Consider a temporary measure while the matter is reviewed. Avoid automatically taking pay, hours, or opportunities away from the person who reported it.
Who will follow up? Give the employee a clear contact person and explain what will happen next. Check whether the conduct stops—not just whether a form was completed.

A manager could begin with: “Thank you for telling me. I want to understand what happened and make sure you don’t have to face the same situation while we look into it. Is there an immediate safety concern? I’ll explain who needs to know and what our next steps are.”

That is an example of a useful conversation, not a legally required script. Do not promise absolute confidentiality: reviewing a report may require speaking with others. Explain that information will be shared only as needed, consistent with the employer’s process.

What Actions Might an Employer Take?

The right measure depends on the conduct, its severity, whether it has happened before, and what the business can control. Possible steps include:

Telling a customer to stop and documenting the warning
Restricting or ending a customer’s access to the workplace
Asking a vendor to send a different representative
Changing how staff interact with a client without penalizing the reporting employee
Using staffing or safety measures that protect healthcare workers while accounting for patient-care obligations
Reassessing the response if the conduct continues

Ending a vendor contract or banning someone from a location may be appropriate in some cases, but neither option comes with a universal guarantee of “no legal risk.” Contracts, patient-care duties, property rules, and other obligations may need to be reviewed.

The most important follow-up question is simple: Did the action actually protect the worker? If not, the response may need to change.

What Can an Employee Do?

If a non-employee is harassing you at work, you do not have to work out the legal standard before speaking up.

Get to safety first if you feel threatened or the conduct is physical.
Tell a manager, HR, or another reporting contact what happened. If your manager is dismissive or you do not feel comfortable reporting to them, use another available channel.
Write down the details you remember: dates, locations, words or actions, witnesses, and any previous reports.
Keep relevant messages or emails in a way that follows applicable privacy and workplace rules.
Report continued contact or retaliation rather than assuming the first report covered everything that followed.

You do not need to confront someone personally if doing so feels unsafe. The EEOC advises employees who are uncomfortable confronting a harasser to tell their employer.

If you may file a legal complaint, pay attention to deadlines. EEOC charge-filing periods are generally 180 or 300 calendar days, depending on the circumstances; an internal complaint generally does not pause that clock. Federal employees have a different process and generally must contact an agency EEO counselor within 45 days.

How Can a Business Make Reporting Easier Before Anything Happens?

Imagine an employee who knows a customer’s behavior is wrong but is unsure whether the company’s harassment policy covers customers at all. That uncertainty can delay a report. A useful policy answers the question before the employee has to ask it.

State plainly that the policy covers conduct by customers, clients, patients, vendors, and other people workers encounter through their jobs. Name more than one reporting contact where possible. Tell managers whom to alert, who can restrict a visitor’s access, and how to document an incident. Train with examples drawn from the work people actually do.

These are practical prevention measures, not a claim that every item is independently required by federal law for every employer. State and local requirements vary. For more detail on building a reporting process that people can actually use, see our guide to proactively preventing workplace harassment. The EEOC also describes clear policies, accessible complaint channels, and tailored training as promising practices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an employer be responsible for sexual harassment by a customer?

Yes, potentially. The EEOC’s regulation addresses sexual harassment of employees by non-employees, including situations in which an employer knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action. The employer’s control matters. Courts can differ in how they apply federal law, so a specific case needs jurisdiction-specific analysis.

Does an employee have to wait for a second incident before reporting?

No. Employees can report the first incident. An employer can assess and address it without waiting for a repeated pattern. Whether a single incident meets the legal standard for an unlawful hostile work environment is a separate question; an extremely serious incident may be enough.

Does a business have to keep serving a customer who harasses staff?

Not necessarily. Restricting access may be an available response, depending on the facts and the business’s other obligations. Employers should assess the situation rather than assume customer status prevents action.

Is a customer-harassment policy legally required for every small business?

There is no single federal rule requiring every business to use the same written policy or training program. Title VII generally applies to private employers meeting the federal employee-count requirements; state and local laws may cover smaller employers or impose additional requirements. A clear policy is still a practical way to tell workers how to report concerns.

The Bottom Line

When harassment comes from outside the payroll, the person affected still has to work there. That is why “not our employee” is not an adequate response by itself.

For a worker, the next step may be to get safe, report what happened, and keep relevant details. For a manager, it is to listen, assess the risk, act within the business’s control, and follow up. For a business, it is to make sure those steps are possible before a worker has to ask for them.

The exact legal outcome depends on the facts and jurisdiction. Taking the report seriously should not.

This article provides general information about U.S. workplace harassment law, not legal advice. Federal and state law, worker classification, filing deadlines, and the facts of a particular incident can change the analysis. Consult a qualified employment attorney about a specific complaint or policy.