Perhaps no other bad employment situation is more difficult than workplace sexual harassment. Therefore, if you are the victim of employment sexual harassment, you absolutely do not need to confront this type of wrong on your own. The legal team at The Law Offices of Labor Attorneys is here for you today. In fact, you can reach a skilled, dedicated, and experienced California sexual harassment lawyer by calling (800) 337-7436.
As part of assisting you in learning more about workplace sexual harassment and sexual victimization in other settings, some preliminary information can be helpful to you. This includes:
- Understanding what constitutes workplace sexual harassment
- Overview of who can commit sexual harassment in the workplace
- Duty of your employer to reasonably protect you from sexual harassment
- Justice and accountability in a sexual harassment claim
- Your legal rights as a victim of employment sexual harassment
Definition of Workplace Sexual Harassment
Workplace sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature. This unwanted physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature either explicitly or implicitly impacts a targeted individual’s ability to work in any number of different ways that include:
- Unreasonably interferes with a person’s ability to perform job duties and tasks
- Creates an intimidating work environment
- Establishes an offensive work environment
- Creates a hostile work environment
- Engenders an abusive work environment
Who can Engage in Workplace Sexual Harassment?
Workplace sexual harassment oftentimes occurs when a supervisor of manager engages in this type of inappropriate conduct with a subordinate. With that said, workplace sexual harassment can also be the product of conduct exhibited by a coworker. Additionally, it is also possible for a nonemployee to victimize a worker as the result of sexually harassing conduct. For example, a client or customer may be guilty of sexual harassment.
Duty to Reasonably Protect Against Workplace Sexual Harassment
An employer has what is known as a legal duty to reasonably protect employees from sexual harassment. What this means is that if management (or the owner) of a business enterprise become aware of sexual harassment being perpetrated within the confines of the workplace or during the course of a worker’s employment, appropriate steps must be taken to stop this type of illicit conduct.
Owners and managers oftentimes content they did now know of workplace sexual harassment. Indeed, this is a commonplace response to a sexual harassment complaint. California and federal laws do not permit a business to turn a proverbial blind eye to sexual harassment.
If a business reasonably should have been aware of ongoing sexual harassment, it is responsible for the conduct. The concept of reasonably should have known about ongoing workplace sexual harassment is based upon a consideration of what a similar situated business owners and managers would have known.
An experienced California labor lawyer with a background in representing victims of sexual harassment is in the best possible position to identify situations in which a business reasonably should have been aware of ongoing improper conduct of this nature. You can obtain reliable answers to any questions you have about your particular situation by contacting an experienced California workplace sexual harassment attorney by calling (800) 337-7436.
Justice after Workplace Sexual Harassment
On some level, complete justice is not always possible in a sexual harassment case. With that said, federal and California laws do provide a course through which you may be able to obtain some level of justice. If you prevail in a claim, you can render the perpetrator of sexual harassment accountable for that inappropriate, illicit misconduct.
Compensatory damages are part of a financial award in a case. In other words, a settlement or court judgement results in compensation. Types of losses include:
- Lost wages (due to an interruption or loss of employment arising from sexual harassment)
- Medical expenses (including therapy or counseling)
- Other expenses, losses, and damages you have incurred as a result of this type of workplace harassment
Equitable relief may be an option for you. For example, job reinstatement is the most common type of equitable relief. If you are still employed, equitable relief might also take the form of a promotion you were denied as an outgrowth of impermissible harassment of a sexual nature perpetrated against you in the workplace.
There are some instances in which the conduct of the perpetrator of the sexual harassment or the response of the employer to that conduct is particularly outrageous, malicious, or egregious. In that type of situation, you may be able to seek punitive damages in a lawsuit. Punitive damages represent additional monetary compensation paid to you as means to address this type of especially egregious conduct and to prevent similar behavior from occurring in the future.
Punitive damages have limits. An experienced California sexual harassment lawyer can explain this to you and provide an initial evaluation of your claim.
Experienced, Committed, Caring California Sexual Harassment Lawyer: Fighting for Your Legal Rights
If you believe that you are the victim of workplace sexual harassment or of this type of misconduct in some other setting, you likely have a myriad of questions. You very well may be like most people who find themselves in your shoes and feel confused and uncertain about what you need to do to protect your very important legal rights.
The first step you need to take to protect your vital legal interests is to schedule a no-cost and no-obligation with a dedicated, experienced California sexual harassment lawyer. You can schedule a consultation any time of the day or night by calling a labor attorney at (800) 337-7436.
We keep our labor lawyer hotline staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including major U.S. holidays. We will schedule an initial consultation and case evaluation with a well-seasoned California sexual harassment lawyer. Convenient office appointments are available. You can meet with one of our attorneys at another location convenient for you. Virtual consultations also are available.
No Fee Unless Our California Sexual Harassment Lawyer Team Wins for You
The last thing you need to worry about is finding money for attorney fees when you are the victim of workplace sexual harassment or any other type of sexual harassment. The Law Offices of Labor Attorneys charges no attorney fees unless we obtain a favorable settlement or judgment in your sexual harassment case. Justice and accountability is our mission at The Law Offices of Labor Attorneys.
Again, you can reach an experienced, committed sexual harassment attorney by calling us at (800) 337-7436 at your convenience.
