Harassment Attorney San Diego
Harassment Attorney San Diego

Law Offices of
Jason A. Rodenbo 
A Professional Corporation
402 West Broadway, Suite 400, San Diego, CA 92101     Office: 619-321-6950, Fax: 619-595-3150
The information you obtain on this site is not, nor is it intended to be legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.
Harassment
Harassment

The following is from the informational website by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing act:

Fair Employment and Housing Act

This law provides protection from harassment or discrimination in employment because of:
Age (40 and over)
Ancestry
Color
Religious Creed
Denial of Family and Medical Care Leave
Disability (mental and physical) including HIV and AIDS
Marital Status
Medical Condition (cancer and genetic characteristics)
National Origin
Race
Religion
Sex
Sexual Orientation 

Definition of Sexual Harassment

The Fair Employment and Housing Act defines harassment because of sex as including sexual harassment, gender harassment, and harassment based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

The Fair Employment and Housing Commission regulations define sexual harassment as unwanted sexual advances, or visual, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. This definition includes many forms of offensive behavior and includes gender-based harassment of a person of the same sex as the harasser. The following is a partial list of violations:

Unwanted sexual advances,
Offering employment benefits in exchange for sexual favors,
Making or threatening reprisals after a negative response to sexual advances,
Visual conduct: leering, making sexual gestures, displaying of suggestive objects or pictures, cartoon or posters,
Verbal conduct: making or using derogatory comments, epithets, slurs, and jokes,
Verbal sexual advances or propositions, Verbal abuse of a sexual nature, graphic verbal commentaries about an individual's body, sexually degrading words used to describe an individual, suggestive or obscene letters, notes or invitations, Physical conduct: touching, assault, impeding or blocking movements.

Employer Liability

All employers are prohibited from harassing employees in the workplace. If harassment occurs, an employer may be liable even if management was not aware of the harassment.

An employer might avoid liability if the harasser is a non-management employee, the employer had no knowledge of the harassment, and there was a program to prevent harassment. If the harasser is a non-management employee, the employer may avoid liability if the employer takes immediate and appropriate corrective action to stop the harassment once the employer learns about it. Employers are strictly liable for harassment by their supervisors or agents. The harasser can be held personally liable for damages.

Additionally, Government Code section 12940, subdivision (k), requires an entity to take "all reasonable steps to prevent harassment from occurring." If an employer has failed to take such preventative measures, that employer can be held liable for the harassment.

A victim may be entitled to monetary damages even though no employment opportunity has been denied and there is no actual loss of pay or benefits.

Enforcement of the Law

Employees or job applicants who believe that they have been sexually harassed may, within one year of the harassment, file a complaint of discrimination with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

The Department will investigate the complaint and attempt to resolve the disputes. If the Department finds evidence of sexual harassment and settlement efforts fail, the Department may file a formal accusation against the employer and the harasser. The accusation may lead to either a public hearing before the Fair Employment and Housing Commission or a lawsuit filed on the complainant's behalf by the Department.

If the Commission finds that harassment occurred, it can order remedies, including up to $150,000 in fines and/or damages for emotional distress from each employer or harasser charged. In addition, the Commission may order hiring or reinstatement, back pay, promotion, training, and changes in the policies or practices of the involved employer. A court may order unlimited damages.

The following is from the informational website by: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

      The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.

      The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.

      The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.

      Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.

      The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.

It is helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available.

When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, EEOC looks at the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances, and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-by-case basis.

Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They can do so by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.


Are you a Victim of Harassment, Discrimination,
or Retaliation? Have you Been Wrongfully Terminated?
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