California Legal Team, Los Angeles, Orange County, Sexual Harassment Attorneys Phone: (800) 285-1763

California Legal Team’s lawyers represent women that are victims of Sexual Harassment throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

If you are a victim of Sexual Harassment in Los Angeles or Orange County, feel free to give us a call to discuss your case.

Phone: (800) 285-1763

Typical Sexual Harassment Cases

Typical Sexual Harassment Cases

There are three kinds of Sexual Harassment Cases that typically get litigated as follows:

* When an employer fires, refuses to employ an individual or in some way refuses to give them a benefit or something of value at work because the person refuses to engage in some or of sexual conduct. These cases can also have a "Retaliation" element, which occurs when an employer in some manner punishes an employee for refusing to engage in some sort of sexual conduct, which is also illegal .

* When an employee suffers so much Sexual Harassment or "retaliation" and is forced to resign instead of continuing to suffer. When an employer's conduct is so bad that the employee is forced to quit. When this occurs, the employee can often obtain the same legal results the employee would have obtained had she been fired.

* When an employee suffers Sexual Harassment that is either "severe" or " pervasive," meaning the Sexual Harassment carried on for a long time or was incredibly offensive (or both).

Sexual Harassment Law Firm -- Sexual Harassment Training

Preventing Sexual Harassment

Employers are required by law to be committed to eliminating Sexual Harassment from the workplace.

The best way an employer can prevent Sexual Harassment is to have a Sexual Harassment reporting system that the employees can use with ease and to act immediately upon the information, once it is received.

Employers should also do their best to train and educate all of their employees about Sexual Harassment.

Sexual Harassment Lawyer -- Employer Obligation Guidelines

Employer Obligations

All employers have a legal obligation to prevent sexual harassment.

* Employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring.

* Employers must help ensure a workplace free from sexual harassment by posting in the workplace a poster made available by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

* Employers must help ensure a workplace free from sexual harassment by distributing to employees information on sexual harassment. An employer may either distribute a brochure that may be obtained from the Department of Fair Employment and Housing or develop an equivalent document, which must meet the following requirements:

o The illegality of sexual harassment

o The definition of sexual harassment under state and federal laws

o A description of sexual harassment, utilizing examples

o The internal complaint process of the employer available to the employee

o The legal remedies and complaint process available through the Department and the Fair Employment and Housing Commission

o Directions on how to contact the Department and the Fair Employment and Housing Commission

o The protection against retaliation for opposing the practices prohibited by law or for filing a complaint with, or otherwise participating in investigative activities conducted by, the Department or the Commission

* # Employers with 50 or more employees must provide at least two hours of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees who are employed as of July 1, 2005, and to all new supervisory employees within six months of assuming a supervisory position. There after, covered employers must provide sexual harassment training and education to each supervisory employee once every two years.

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Employer Liability

All employers are prohibited from harassing employees in the workplace. If harassment occurs, an employer may be liable even if management was not aware of the harassment.

An employer might avoid liability if the harasser is a non-management employee, the employer had no knowledge of the harassment, and there was a program to prevent harassment. If the harasser is a non-management employee, the employer may avoid liability if the employer takes immediate and appropriate corrective action to stop the harassment once the employer learns about it. Employers are strictly liable for harassment by their supervisors or agents. The harasser can be held personally liable for damages.

Additionally, Government Code section 12940, subdivision (k), requires an entity to take "all reasonable steps to prevent harassment from occurring." If an employer has failed to take such preventative measures, that employer can be held liable for the harassment.

A victim may be entitled to monetary damages even though no employment opportunity has been denied and there is no actual loss of pay or benefits.

General Facts about Sexual Harassment

Facts About Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Employment and Housing Act.

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 individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

• The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
• The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
• The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
• Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
• The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.

It is helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available.

When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, EEOC looks at the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances, and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-by-case basis.

Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They can do so by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.