To meet the definition of a hostile work environment, your lawyers will have to show there was a pattern of abusive behavior and the harassment was so severe as to cause you emotional distress and interfere with your job performance.
Los Angeles, CA – Although sexual harassment is strictly prohibited under both California and federal law, many people continue to suffer often horrific forms of abuse in the workplace all over Los Angeles. Under pressure from the #MeToo movement, many businesses have written anti-harassment policies, but very little is done to enforce them. Employees have the right to a safe workplace, but too often those are just empty words. The victims are very much aware of this and this is one of the main reasons they don’t dare to speak out against their tormentors. Yet, the only way to put an end to sex-based discrimination is to take action and you can easily do that by talking to experienced Los Angeles sexual harassment lawyers. All attorneys working in this area of the law offer free consultations so you have nothing to lose. They will tell you if you do have a legal case and how to go forward with a complaint.
The three types of sexual harassment
Before you can file a complaint you need to make sure that your situation meets the criteria for sexual harassment. The law describes the three forms sexual harassment takes.
Verbal or written harassment
This is one of the most common forms of harassment in the workplace as many harassers think they can get away with it. After all, it’s just words, words never hurt anyone, have they? Well, except the victims, obviously.
Verbal harassment includes:
- Making derogatory comments about someone’s gender or looks
- Making sexually explicit jokes
- Asking inappropriate questions about someone’s sex life
- Asking someone out repeatedly
- Sending offensive emails or text messages, containing sex jokes or sexual advances
- Listening to music with offensive, sexually-explicit lyrics
Visual harassment
This is very common in hostile work environment cases. It’s most frequent in male-dominated environments and the visual displays are meant to offend and humiliate women. Here are a few examples of visual sexual harassment:
- Displaying posters, pictures, or cartoons of a sexual nature
- Wearing T-shirts with vulgar language or obscene images
- Watching porn in the workplace and inviting others to watch
As a rule, you should not ignore such behavior. For one thing, it won’t go away, but the most important thing is to be able to prove that you objected to such displays. If you don’t say anything, your harassers will argue they thought you had a laugh at their vulgar images and it was just a bit of innocent fun among adults. If you talk to a sexual harassment lawyer they will advise you to take pictures of any offensive displays. You will need evidence to support your harassment complaint.
Physical harassment
This is the most violent type of sexual harassment, but it can also be quite subtle and hard to prove. Physical harassment includes:
- Unwelcome touching of any kind – it’s not just about someone touching your breasts, but also things that are seemingly innocent, such as an unsolicited neck massage
- Frequently following or standing too close to a person
- Lewd hand gestures
- Making sexually suggestive facial expressions
In order to have a sexual harassment case, your lawyers will have to prove that it was more than an isolated incident. If someone in the office tells a sex joke and you ask them to stop, that’s not harassment. Likewise, if someone asks you out and you refuse, it is not sexual harassment if they leave you alone afterward.
To meet the definition of a hostile work environment, your lawyers will have to show there was a pattern of abusive behavior and the harassment was so severe as to cause you emotional distress and interfere with your job performance.
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