Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an employment, unreasonably interferes with an work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. Lawyers who handle sexual harassment cases represent individuals -- usually employees or students -- who have been victimized by unwanted verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, or subjected to sexually offensive behavior that creates an unfavorable environment. Sexual harassment attorneys may also represent employers, school districts, and businesses that are named defendants in sexual harassment lawsuits.
Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. In 2008, the population was estimated at 49,775 and the surrounding Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated population of 172,933 in 2008. Although often believed to be named for ragtime composer Scott Joplin who lived in Sedalia, Missouri, Joplin is actually named for the Reverend Harris Joplin, the founder of the area's first Methodist congregation. Joplin was established in 1873 and expanded significantly from the wealth created by the mining of zinc, its growth faltering after World War II when the price of the mineral collapsed. The city gained additional renown as one of the stops on the historic Route 66.