Sacramento Sexual Harassment Law Office

Sexual harassment lawsuits may be considered under laws such as the Civil Rights Act , the California State Constitution, and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act . The content found on this website is for informational purposes only, and is NOT legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee a similar result or predict the outcome of any future case. By accessing this website, you are not establishing an attorney-client relationship.  You are not considered a client until your case has been accepted by TorkLaw and a client retainer has been signed.
They must continue to provide the training every two years for all of their employees. As one of the legal teams who handle these types of cases, we understand the delicate situation of sexual abuse and assault. Maintaining a comfortable environment for our clients is our first priority in these cases, and we handle the situation with the utmost respect. If you are sexually harassed by a client, vendor, or another non-employee, your employer has certain obligations for keeping you free from discrimination or harassment. When the harasser is not a direct employee, it is referred to as third-party sexual harassment. The term may apply to an independent contractor, customer, and delivery driver, among others.

Company policies help prevent, address, and resolve sexual harassment complaints before they become more significant legal matters. If you think you have sexual harassment claims or aren’t sure and want to explore your options, reach out to our sexual harassment lawyer in Sacramento for a free case evaluation. Sometimes it is simply a matter of finding the right legal representative of the organization. While line-level supervisors and even upper-level managers may not fully understand the legal ramifications of a report of sexual harassment, an attorney will. That person may take reports seriously and facilitate a real response—particularly when the report comes from an attorney who can effectively present the case for the employer’s liability. The California legislature is taking other important steps to weed out sexual harassment within its ranks.
On the other hand, constructive discharge may also be considered a form of wrongful termination. Constructive discharge differs in that there is no direct termination on the part of the employer. Instead, the employer targets an employee and forces them to quit by creating a hostile work environment.

FILE - Then-Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, speaks at a hearing at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., June 14, 2011. California Treasurer Ma will stand trial for sexual harassment after a former high-ranking female employee sued her alleging that the state official made sexual advances toward her before firing her. A judge on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, denied Ma’s motion to dismiss the case.
If you feel reporting the unwanted sexual conduct will negatively impact your career, it is important to know that retaliation is prohibited by federal and state laws. It can be helpful to review your employer’s policies on sexual harassment and follow the reporting procedures. Addressing sexual harassment through the internal process may not stop the behavior, but it is necessary. Fund Her is partnering with Emerge California and Close the Gap California—two other organizations that train and recruit women to run for public office.
The timing of the hearing, like that of the suspension, is among many questions swirling in the wake of the college’s action. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

She alleged that she was continuously subjected to groping and sexually suggestive comments from her supervisor, who frequently walked behind her to press “his genitals against buttocks,” according to the complaint. This worker said that she was informed that she would be fired if she continued to complain and that “Defendants have since continued to retaliate against her.” That case settled in 2020. A lawsuit can be filed in cases in which the jokes are discriminatory or sexually graphic in nature, and are made continuously over a stretch of time despite being told that someone does not want to hear them. These jokes can be considered under sexual harassment or discrimination laws if they are very serious. Also, if you have informed your employer about your feelings of the jokes and he or she does nothing to stop them, this can be considered a hostile work environment.
One of the biggest misconceptions that victims in these situations have is that they will be questioned as if they are guilty of the crime that was committed against them. The job of the law enforcement officers who take the statement and create the report of the abuse or assault do not set out to make the victim feel uncomfortable. Advocates or an individual that the victim trusts can be present for any of the processes that go along with reporting the crime. The victim also has the right to stop the questions if they feel uncomfortable. A first step toward resolving any workplace difficulty is to talk to human resources or a supervisor if something inappropriate is going on at work. This can be the most effective way to address the situation and to put an end to the behavior.

We provide our clients with the personal attention they need, and we have won more than $60 million for our clients in less than four years. Employees have the right to file sexual harassment complaints about third parties with their employer. When a company fails to take action, it is held as liable for a third-party’s actions as an employee. Even if your lawsuit is unsuccessful, your employer cannot take action against you for reporting sexual harassment or suing the company for it.
It is important to understand that if a coworker is touching you or making comments of sexual nature, you should make every effort to make sure the coworker knows that this conduct is unwelcomed. As an attorney with extensive trial experience, Mr. Fulton will not only listen to your concerns but will also fight for your cause. $2.5 million settlement on behalf of class members in failure to pay wages and reimburse expenses case. $600,000 settlement on behalf of class members in failure to reimburse expenses case.

Many employees are uncertain if the unwanted conduct they experience in the workplace qualifies as harassment, sexual or otherwise. Annoying or rude behavior may be unpleasant, but it may not meet the criteria for legally defined harassment. One would hope that a lawyer—and the dean of a  school tasked with training new lawyers—would know better than to engage in conduct that could submit the school to nearly $2 million in undisputed liability. Nonetheless, the dean reportedly engaged in bear hugs, kissing on the cheek, and other public displays of inappropriate affection. The conduct even escalated after the assistant reported it to personnel in the school’s human resources department. Although sexual harassment in the workplace is against the law, countless individuals across the State of California experience it every day.
We also believe it’s helpful for potential clients to come to us with a detailed account of what happened to them that includes as many hard facts (dates, times, locations, names of individuals, etc.) as possible. You can still file a complaint if your coworker is the target of sexual harassment but knowing it’s going on impacts your ability to work. A sexual favor can be anything from a physical act  to a request for explicit photographs of the victim, or even submission to ongoing sexual harassment. This startling amount of cover-up is all the more disturbing when one considers the facility at which it occurred. Facilities run by the Department of Developmental Services house adults with severe mental disabilities that prevent them from living independently. The safety of these residents depends almost entirely on the integrity of the staff members who watch over them 24 hours per day.