Sexual Harassment Attorney

Serving Oxnard & Ventura

Our ability to feel safe in our workplaces should be a given. Unfortunately, many employees find themselves victims of sexual harassment in the workplace. These situations affect employee productivity, mental and physical health and can have legal consequences for both the harasser and the employer. If you are being subjected to unwanted sexual advances, inappropriate comments or harassment based on your gender, you may be eligible to bring a sexual harassment claim. At Schurmer Reese Davies we regularly represent victims of sexual harassment and are here to help you stop the harassment and obtain the compensation you deserve.

What is Sexual Harassment?

The term “sexual harassment” often gets tossed around lightly, but sexual harassment should be taken seriously. Taking sexual harassment seriously often starts with understanding what is and what is not sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment isn’t a single inappropriate comment from a co-worker at the office holiday party or a creepy glance from a customer. Sexual harassment typically involves unwelcome sexual advances, which can be either verbal or physical. This behavior can sometimes be overt and obvious, such as unwelcome touching and obscene remarks or suggestions, or even more subtle behavior like inappropriate glaring or staring. Sexual harassment may also be disparaging or offensive comments about a person’s sex. The conduct does not have to occur between opposite genders to be sexual harassment.

Illegal Conduct

You may be surprised to learn that the first advance, inappropriate comment or unwanted touch is not considered illegal sexual harassment. While the conduct may be actionable as either assault and/or battery, it does not become sexual harassment unless:

• The victim tells the harasser to stop and
• The victim cannot leave without suffering a tangible hardship

In employment situations it is enough to simply ask the harasser to stop because walking away from a job poses a very specific hardship, the loss of one’s income. Working with an experienced sexual harassment attorney can help you determine whether or not your co-worker’s conduct is illegal and what your options are to remove yourself from the situation.

Hostile Work Environment

Many times this behavior creates a hostile work environment that interferes with a person’s ability to work effectively. The work atmosphere can become intimidating, hostile or offensive. Stopping the conduct before it happens is the employer’s responsibility. In fact, the state of California requires employers to take necessary steps to prevent sexual harassment in the work environment. This includes:

• Instituting the appropriate training;
• Creating policies to prevent sexual harassment;
• Developing procedures for reporting harassment; and
• Creating protocols for responding to complaints.

Employers are also responsible for ensuring the necessary intervention occurs once a claim has been made or once the behavior was—or should have been—discovered.

Failing to respond to a report of sexual harassment or failing to discover harassment can expose an employer to civil liability. It may also expose the employer to administrative action under state or federal law.

Damages

Damages or financial compensation in sexual harassment cases come in a number of different forms. Victims may be entitled to compensatory damages including:

• loss of earnings and wages,
• loss of employment ability,
• medical expenses,
• emotional distress and
• pain and suffering damages

Pain and suffering —often called general damages—are typically a large component of the ultimate settlement or verdict. In certain cases where the conduct is particularly egregious and can be shown to be outrageous or malicious, clients may be entitled to punitive damages. These damages are designed to punish the offender. In these situations a victim may even be able to recover the cost of attorney’s fees.