The employment laws in California are clear about protecting employees from workplace harassment, including sexual harassment. Employers are legally obliged to prevent this type of harassment and take stringent measures against the perpetrators. If they fail to do so, the employee facing the harassment can take legal action against them. If you are in a similar situation, you can search online for “sexual harassment lawyer near me” to find a competent lawyer in your locality to represent you.
Recognizing sexual harassment
Workplace sexual harassment is any sexually offensive and unwanted behavior by your employer, manager, co-workers, clients, or other people in the workplace. Such behavior can create a toxic work environment that can adversely affect your mental and physical health, hamper your productivity, and disrupt your career. Often, many employees resign from their positions to avoid dealing with sexual harassment.
The main problem with reporting sexual harassment is that it can be difficult to prove. The perpetrator may claim that they were merely being friendly and you misunderstood their intentions. However, if you have informed them that you don’t like their behavior and they continue with it, their behavior falls into the category of sexual harassment. As the lawyer you hire by searching online for “sexual harassment lawyer near me” will inform you, the following instances constitute sexual harassment:
• The perpetrator asks you out again and again even though you have informed them that you are not interested in them.
• They stare at you constantly and often obscenely at your private parts.
• They barge into your personal space and attempt to touch, hug, or kiss you.
• They threaten to harm you when you refuse their aggressive sexual advances.
• They attempt to sabotage your work and ruin your career for not agreeing to their sexual demands.
• They try to destroy your reputation in the office by spreading malicious rumors about you.
• They lie about being in an intimate relationship with you.
• They target you with lewd comments, unpleasant suggestions, creepy compliments, and obscene jokes.
• They send you pornographic images, videos, emails, and messages.
• They take photographs or videos of you without your knowledge or permission.
• They call or message you frequently and abuse you when you do not respond.
Preventing sexual harassment
You can take the following steps to prevent or end sexual harassment in the workplace:
• Maintain a detailed record of the sexual harassment, such as who the perpetrator is, when they started to harass you, what they said to you, when and where it happened, and who was present when they said it.
• Record the sexual harassment on audio or video.
• Gather evidence of sexual harassment, such as phone and video calls, text messages, chats, and images.
• Confront the perpetrator in a public place and video record yourself informing them that you want them to stop their offensive behavior.
• File a complaint about sexual harassment with your company’s human resources department.
• Search on the Internet for “sexual harassment lawyer near me” and get legal representation for a court trial.
