Sexual harassment is a serious issue that can have far-reaching consequences.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual harassment, it’s important to understand your rights and options as quickly as possible. The attorneys at Martin & Martin have extensive experience handling sexual harassment cases with professionalism and sensitivity.
60% of women say they have experienced unwanted sexual attention, sexual coercion, sexually crude conduct, or sexist comments in the workplace (Feldblum & Lipnic, 2016). – NSVRC.org
What is Sexual Harassment?
Sexual harassment is a type of discrimination that’s illegal under both state and federal law, regardless of whether the harasser is a co-worker, supervisor, or someone else in the workplace. The harassment does not have to be sexual by nature, it also includes making lewd and offensive comments about a person’s sex.
Sexual Harassment Can Take Many Forms
There are many different types of behavior that can constitute sexual harassment. Common examples include verbal sexual harassment, cybersexual harassment in the form of sending unwanted sexually explicit messages or emails, making unwelcome advances, touching someone without their consent, and unwanted genital flashing.
- Hostile Work Environment – A hostile work environment exists when instances of harassment, which may be insufficient to support legal claims on their own, are so pervasive that they make you uncomfortable returning to work each day. If you are repeatedly subjected to unwanted sexual advances or regularly receive offensive emails or texts from a coworker, you may have a case for hostile work environment sexual harassment.
- Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment – Quid Pro Quo is a Latin phrase that means “this for that,” or a “favor for a favor.” In the employment context, quid pro quo sexual harassment typically involves a supervisor, boss, manager or executive offering an employment opportunity on the condition that the subordinate employee consents to sexual advances, contact or conduct. This can involve an overt request—“I will give you (subordinate employee) a promotion, raise or employment opportunity if you give me (the boss) sexual favors.”
We Are Experts In Confronting:
- Requesting sexual favors
- Expressing a desire for sexual contact or conduct
- Using sexually explicit language
- Telling sexual jokes
- Using sexually suggestive nicknames or terms of endearment
- Exposing oneself
- Blowing kisses or winking
- Showing sexually explicit pictures or videos
- Following or stalking
- Unwanted Touching
- Patting, grabbing, rubbing, pinching, groping, hugging or kissing
- Hostile work environment
- Quid pro quo harassment
Sexual Harassment Victims Have Rights
If you are a victim of sexual harassment, you have the right to take legal action. You may be entitled to compensation for damages such as pain and suffering, lost wages, and emotional distress. Our experienced sexual harassment lawyers can help you understand your rights and options under the law.
