Representing Victims Of Sexual Harassment
Although the days of social acceptance for crude language and boorish behavior in the workplace are gone, sexual harassment remains a problem. This in spite state and federal laws strictly prohibiting such behavior. Nobody should have to put up with sexual harassment at work. If you experienced sexual harassment at work from co-workers, managers or other on-site employees, your rights were violated. I can help enforce your rights, ensure the guilty parties are held accountable and make up for the harm suffered through just compensation.
Filing A Sexual Harassment Claim
To file a sexual harassment claim, there is no qualifying threshold for the number of unwanted advances. It can be a single egregious act or an ongoing series of events. However, proving the harassment took place can sometimes be difficult if there were no other witnesses. In these cases, it is important to report this type of activity to management. Without a record of incidents, winning a sexual harassment case is difficult.
Hostile Work Environments And Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) developed laws to protect employees against unwelcome sexual advances in the workplace. These laws divide sexual harassment into two broad categories; hostile work environments and quid pro quo sexual harassment.
Bringing Charges Based On A Hostile Work Environment
If your claim is based on a workplace that is a hostile work environment, you must prove that you were the target of verbal or physical conduct that was sexual nature while on the job. This may include actions or communication that:
- A common person would find objectively offensive
- Occurred often enough to affect the terms of employment
- Interferes with the victim’s reasonable efforts to perform at work
- Creates an offensive, hostile or intimidating workplace
- Was subjectively offensive
Bringing Charges Based On Quid Pro Quo
Quid pro quo is a term meaning expecting something in return when something is given. In the context of sexual harassment, it means accepting unwanted sexual advances in return for preferential treatment or continued employment.
To file a quid pro quo sexual harassment claim, you must prove one of the following situations occurred:
- You were the target of verbal or physical conduct that was sexual in nature
- You were the recipient of unwelcome sexual advances
- You were asked for sexual favors
- Submitting to the sexual harassment was stated or implied to be a condition of receiving job benefits or avoiding punishment or demotion
- Any type of harassment based on sex
If your immediate superior or anyone in management should have reasonably known about the harassment and did not attempt to intervene, they can also be held accountable. However, this is only possible if you or someone else put your employer on notice of the illegal conduct by reporting the harassment to management.
Contact The Turk Law Firm
If you are considering filing a sexual harassment lawsuit, contact me by calling 818-962-7586 or filling out my online contact form.