Sexual harassment is a common problem throughout many work areas and is often underreported. But do you need a sexual harassment lawyer in California if you experience this problem? There are many situations in which an attorney is essential. They can help to make sure that your sexual harassment situation is appropriately handled.
Let’s look at this situation to give you an idea of what to expect and how legal help can protect you and your rights. They will take all the steps involved in your lawsuit and ensure that you get the protection necessary to proceed.
What Qualifies as Sexual Harassment?
Sexual harassment is defined as any unwanted sexual behavior directed towards an individual by another. This harassment can take the form of physical behaviors (such as touching erogenous zones on the body.
These areas can include spots like the chest. Such touches may be done as a serious sexual advance or as a joke. Often, many people who sexually harass others try to play off their actions as a joke in this way.
That said, a majority of sexual harassment cases center around verbal statements made by one person to another. For example, someone may repeatedly and lewdly compliment a woman’s looks.
Or they may say that they want to have sex with her or perform other types of sexual acts. Some might even request sexual acts in return for promotion or improvement at work, even in a joking manner.
All of these behaviors fully qualify as sexual harassment and are illegal under federal law. However, it is also important to note that sexual harassment may not take the form of direct sexual comments or behaviors.
For example, someone at work may make disparaging or offensive jokes about a person’s gender, trying to be funny. Or they may make ludicrous claims based entirely on a person’s gender, such as “when women say ‘no,’ they mean yes.”
Please note that these comments or behaviors don’t have to be directed at those who feel harassed. For instance, a boss making a sexual joke in the office could offend a woman or a man who happened to hear it as they walked through the room.
And this point brings up another critical thing: harassment can occur between people of different or same sexes, regardless of the harasser’s intensity. But does one joke or isolated situation typically count as sexual harassment? Not usually, though this depends on factors like:
- The Joke’s Intent – Was the person telling the joke attempting to put down another individual based on their gender or sexual preference? If so, this could be harassment.
- The Severity of the Joke – While the law doesn’t prosecute light and silly jokes that aren’t meant to hurt others, a very severe joke and offensive could be considered harassment.
- The Persistence – A single off-handed joke is not usually prosecutable. However, an individual who continually makes demeaning jokes with the intent to hurt others is committing sexual harassment.
If you believe that you are a victim of sexual harassment, it is essential to do what you can to pursue this case to its fullest. You deserve compensation if you’ve been unjustly harassed, and you can help make your work a better place at the same time. So let’s examine what you need to do in this circumstance and how a lawyer can help you out.
What to Do If This Happens
If you’ve experienced sexual harassment and want to protect yourself, there are many steps that you must take. Each of these steps helps prepare you for a potential lawsuit and ensures that you don’t experience any more troubles before you go to trial. However, just a few of the most critical steps that you can take in this situation include how you must:
- Gather as Much Evidence as Possible – Make sure that you gather evidence like written testimonials, audio of the harassment, and even write-ups given to the individual who keeps harassing. In a lawsuit, a preponderance of the evidence is all that is needed to help win your case.
- Tell Others – Let other people you trust know about this situation as soon as possible to ensure that you are protected. They can be used in a trial or lawsuit to testify about the case. And you can also use their emotional support if the harassment increases in intensity.
- Report the Incident to Your Manager – Follow all procedures in your workplace, including reporting the incident to your manager. Even if nothing comes from it, you can show you took steps to address it. In some situations, your work may be able to manage this problem without legal help.
- Decide What to Do About the Harasser – If you feel unsafe at work, you may need to take time off or try to address the situation by getting the harasser moved or removed from the office. Sometimes, it may be possible to talk directly to the harasser and end the problem if they are amiable to it.
If you can at all manage this situation without ending a person’s career or involving the law, it is often a good step to take. Some people may not understand that what they are saying or doing is wrong and may stop if corrected.
However, more severe cases of persistent harassment will require a lawsuit, either to address the suffering caused by the harasser or by your office’s inadequate handling of the situation.
How a Lawyer Can Help You
Lawyers help with lawsuits by taking care of all the problematic steps around them. For example, you can talk to a lawyer about your sexual harassment problem to see if a lawsuit is necessary.
If they believe that you have been wronged, they’ll help you file the case and do what they can to help you win. Just a few steps that they’ll handle before, during, and after your trial include:
- Gather Evidence for You – A skilled sexual harassment lawyer can help to gather evidence for you and present it in a way that makes sense. This step is critical because it helps to improve your chances of winning and also minimizes any emotional issues you might experience.
- Present Your Case – During your trial, your lawyer will present information to create the narrative around your case. In this way, they can show the history of sexual harassment in your workplace and help to make it easier for you to win your case in court.
- Support You During the Trial – A great lawyer is someone who will provide you with emotional support during the trial. They’ll take care of the challenging aspects of your case and let you recover from this situation in a meaningful and caring way that avoids serious complications.
- Help With After-Trial Situations – Your lawyer can help you collect any damages you are owed, protect you from retribution with restraining orders, and take other steps to ensure that your case is smoothly executed and handled.
In this way, a high-class and skilled sexual harassment lawyer can streamline your case and improve your chances of winning. Make sure that you talk to someone who you can trust to handle this case for you. Building a solid relationship with a trustworthy individual can give you the support system that you need to fight back against this behavior.
Find Legal Help Today
Sexual harassment is something that will only go away when more people prosecute and punish unlawful actions. While it can be hard to pursue these cases, due to their delicate nature, it is vital to work with a lawyer who can give you the courage to proceed. They’ll take care of all the difficult things and fight to provide you with the compensation you need to handle this problem.
