It does not stop being harassment because the person does not work for your company. Your employer can still be responsible for how it handles it.
A lot of people put up with harassment from customers, clients, patients, or vendors because they think nothing can be done. The person does not work there, so HR cannot discipline them. The customer is always right. The tips depend on it. None of that makes it part of the job. This is what the federal rule says and what you can actually do.
Harassment from someone outside the company often gets waved off in a way harassment from a coworker would not. “That's just how he is.” “She's our biggest account.” “Just smile and get through it.”
It happens everywhere people serve the public or work with clients: restaurants and bars, stores, hotels, hospitals and clinics, home services, sales, real estate, rideshare and delivery, offices with outside clients. It can be comments, messages, repeated requests for dates, staring, following, or touching.
Being paid to be polite to someone is not the same as being paid to put up with this.
The federal regulation on sexual harassment, 29 CFR 1604.11(e), covers people who are not employees. In plain terms: an employer may be responsible for sexual harassment of its employees by non-employees when the employer, or its supervisors, knew or should have known about it and did not take immediate and appropriate action to fix it.
Two things follow from that:
If a manager watched it happen, or if other staff have complained about the same customer, the employer may already be on notice. Write down who saw it. If coworkers have told you it happened to them too, note that, with their names only if they are comfortable with it.
Tell a manager as soon as you can, and then put it in writing the same day. It does not need to be long:
“Confirming what I told you at 4:15 today. The customer at table 12 (name on the receipt) grabbed my arm and made comments about my body. The coworker on shift with me saw it. This is the third time with this customer. I'm asking that I not be assigned to him again.”
Keep a copy somewhere that is not a company account. Our guide on how to document workplace harassment covers what each entry in a log should contain and where to keep it.
Check your handbook for the harassment policy. It should say who to report to. If the person you are supposed to report to is the problem, or has ignored it before, the policy usually names someone else.
Home health aides, cleaners, repair techs, delivery drivers, and real estate agents often have no manager nearby and no coworker to step in. The same steps apply, just sooner. Leave if you feel unsafe, even if the job is not finished. Text or call your supervisor or dispatcher from the car and follow up in writing. Ask whether the client can be dropped, or whether someone can go with you on future visits. If your employer uses an app, save screenshots of the job, the address, and any messages before they disappear.
| A real fix | Not a fix |
|---|---|
| The customer is banned or warned in a way that stops it | “Just ignore him” |
| The account or table moves to someone else, with no loss to you | You lose the account, the section, or the tips |
| You are never alone with that person again | “Try to be less friendly” |
| Someone follows up to check it stopped | Nobody mentions it again |
The key is who carries the cost. If the fix means you make less money, get worse shifts, or lose a client you built, it is punishing the person who reported.
Retaliation for reporting harassment is prohibited separately from the harassment itself. Keep writing things down after you report, with dates: schedule changes, lost accounts, a sudden bad review, being left out. Our article on retaliation after reporting harassment covers what tends to count, and what happens when you file a charge covers the process and the deadlines, which are shorter than most people expect.
You can take it outside the company. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Texas Workforce Commission both take questions directly. There are deadlines for filing, so asking early costs you nothing.
If you were sexually assaulted, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is 800-656-4673, free and confidential, 24/7. If you are in mental health crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
All4Aries helps people dealing with sexual harassment at work, and at most we provide resources. Our Harassment Support page says plainly what we can and cannot do. All4Aries is not a law firm and this article is not legal advice.
It can be. The federal regulation on sexual harassment, 29 CFR 1604.11(e), says an employer may be responsible for sexual harassment of employees by non-employees when the employer or its supervisors knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action. Reporting it is how your employer comes to know.
Get to a safe place and get another person with you. Unwanted touching can be a crime as well as harassment, and you can call 911 or report it to police. Tell a manager right away and follow up in writing. RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline, 800-656-4673, is free, confidential, and open 24/7.
Taking your shifts, your best section, or your accounts away after you report can be retaliation, which is prohibited separately from the harassment itself. A fix should not cost the person who reported. Write down any changes with dates.
Something that stops it: banning the customer, moving the account to a manager, making sure you are never alone with that person, or having someone else handle their visits. Being told to ignore it or to be nicer is not a fix.
Published September 18, 2026 by All4Aries, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Austin, Texas. This article is general information, not legal, medical, or financial advice.
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