Los Angeles Sexual Harassment Lawyer
Hostile environment Sexual harassmentconsists of behavior, verbal and physical, which can be sexual or non-sexual, that creates a discriminates. To state a claim for hostile environment sexual harassment, an employee must be subjected to unwelcome advances, comments or behavior that is based on the employee's sex, and that is so severe and pervasive that it alters the conditions of employment and creates an abusive working environment. An employer is strictly liable for a supervisor's sexual harassment. If a co-worker engages in sexual harassment, the employer is liable if it knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to promptly take corrective action. A typical hostile environment sexual harassment case involves a female complaining about a male supervisor's or co-worker's inappropriate behavior. But sexual harassment cases also include harassment of male employees by females or same-sex harassment. Sexual harassment also does not need to consist of sexual advances or explicitly sexual comments or conduct.
Southern California Sexual Harassment Attorneys
Sexual harassment can arise from subtle behavior that discriminates against a person because of his or her gender. Examples of sexual harassment includes sexual advances or propositions, unwanted touching, persistent leering, verbal harassment, disparate treatment, visual displays of offensive material and even nonsexual conduct if it is based on the employee's gender. For example, in a published decision, the court of appeal held a valid sexual harassment claim was stated when male police officers engaged in non-sexual behavior consisting of spreading untrue rumors about a female police officer's abilities, singling her out for unfavorable work assignments, making false complaints about her performance and threatening to disrupt her wedding.
If you are an employee who believes you may be the victim of sexual harassment, you should consult with an employee rights attorney. Our office handles a wide variety of sexual harassment cases. For a free consultation to know your employee rights, just call our toll-free number or send us an e-mail. After a brief initial intake, an attorney will consult with you right away. If we represent you, an experienced attorney will guide your case and be available to consult with you at all times.
