Sexual harassment is an assault on a person’s dignity and worth. It can be emotionally scarring and even physically debilitating. Despite efforts to eliminate sexual harassment from the workplace, offending behavior continues and victims seek recourse through the law. If you believe you have been a victim of sexual harassment, the Law Offices of Charles P. Boylston is here to help. Charles has 12 years of experience litigating cases and negotiating settlements. 

Understanding sexual harassment and the law 
Sexual harassment is recognized as a form of discrimination outlawed by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. California specifically prohibits such conduct pursuant to the Fair Employment and Housing Act, California Government Code §12900 et seq. 
Sexual harassment exists when unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature are linked to employment or career advancement, or simply make one’s job intolerable. Its existence in the workplace has ramifications not just for the victims of sexual harassment, but the efficiency and profitability of the business. Prevention of sexual harassment is beneficial for both employer and employee. In California, prevention of sexual harassment is an obligation of every covered employer. 

Quid pro quo 
The first and most overt type of sexual harassment exists when a person’s employment or career advancement actually depends upon submission to a superior’s sexual overtures. This quid pro quo (this for that) exchange can be explicitly stated or merely implied by the overall circumstances.

Hostile work environment 
This type of sexual harassment is found in workplaces where unwanted sexual conduct unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment. When a worker hates being on the job because of the sexual conduct she must see, hear or suffer, she may very well have a case for sexual harassment.

The unwelcome question 
The sticking point for all sexual harassment claims is that the conduct must be unwelcome. Office flirtations and romances, even between a worker and a supervisor, are not harassment when they are fully consensual. Therefore, it is important for a victim to take reasonable steps to establish his or her objection to the behavior.

Same-sex sexual harassment 
Sexual harassment does not have to be between members of opposite sex. Cases of same-sex harassment are prevalent, and it is not necessary to prove a homosexual orientation in the harasser.

Remedies to compensate and restore victims 
Victims who prove sexual harassment may collect damages, including:

• Back pay – wages, salary and fringe benefits that the victim would have received from the point at which she or he was denied employment or promotion up to the date of the trial
  
• Compensatory damages – for emotional distress, pain and suffering, mental anguish, etc.
  
• Attorney's fees – at the court’s discretion, to the prevailing party
  
• Punitive damages – limited to cases in which the employer's behavior was intentional, with malice or reckless indifference toward the victim  
  
• Front pay – compensation for anticipated future losses in cases where reinstatement is not practical
  

Injunctive relief, including reinstating a fired employee or ordering the employer to change policies and practices that allowed the harassment to occur, is also available. 

Contact an aggressive employment attorney for your sexual harassment claim 
If you are an employer facing allegations of sexual harassment, legal counsel should be obtained immediately as early and direct action can limit and sometimes eliminate potential exposure or damages. If you are an employee you should also act swiftly to protect yourself and to eliminate the unlawful and sometimes immeasurably damaging conduct. Either Employer or employee can best be served by calling an experienced, aggressive, and knowledgeable employment attorney to advise, defend, or pursue. 

Call our Colton, California office at 909.825.9276 or contact the firm online to schedule an initial consultation.