Articles Tagged with Orange County sexual harassment lawyer

Workplace sexual harassment is a serious problem plaguing employees in California and beyond. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports that between 2018 and 2021, it received nearly 28,000 complaints alleging sexual harassment. sexual harassment lawyer Orange County

As our Orange County sexual harassment lawyers can explain, such conduct is against the law. Employees impacted by sexual harassment deserve to be compensated for the harm they’ve suffered. Filing a California sexual harassment lawsuit is the way to do it.

What Exactly is Sexual Harassment?

It’s not unusual for folks to glean a narrow view of what precisely is sexual harassment.

Many people think of it as the stereotypical quid pro quo type of situation. Basically, a boss demands sex from an employee and, if employee refuses, they’ll be fired. And that is sexual harassment, but not the only form of it.

Both California and U.S. law define sexual harassment as behavior that involves:

  • Unwanted sexual advances.
  • Unwelcome physical, visual, or verbal conduct of a sexual nature.
  • Offensive conduct that is directed at or based on someone because of their sex, gender, sexual orientation, or pregnancy.

Harassment can involve a supervisor, but sometimes it involves co-workers or even customers. The defining factor is if endurance of this conduct effectively becomes a condition of employment. If you complain to your boss and nothing is done to correct the situation – or worse, you are retaliated against for complaining – that’s when sexual harassment is legally actionable. Continue Reading ›

When one police officer had the courage to speak out against alleged acts of sexual harassment in her sexual harassmentprecinct, she claims she was the one who was investigated, according to a BuzzFeed News report. Her story is one that would almost be too wild to be true if we hadn’t witnessed this type of behavior in so many other institutions, businesses, and places of work. The officer said she was new to the New York Police Department when she started getting a lot of friendly attention from one of the higher ranking officers. Friendliness allegedly escalated to unwanted touching and then propositions. For five years, she claimed she endured the behavior, telling anyone in her chain of command she felt safe enough talking to, hoping for change that never came. She said she felt trapped, knowing how aggressively police officers reacted when outsiders are brought in to investigate one of their own. Eventually she cracked and sought help form the department’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, at which point she alleged a very creative form of retaliation began.

The officer said shortly after filing her complaint, she was under investigation for alleged alcohol abuse and ordered to complete a treatment program. She took this accusation to be a direct threat, considering she described her own alcohol use as minimal with only a few drinks a year and a clean record with no complaints. Fighting the accusations only seemed to get her in more trouble though, as she said she was suspended when she refused to complete the program and lost a month of pay. Meanwhile, the officer she accused of harassment was docked 10 vacation days for years of alleged abuse toward her. Continue Reading ›

As any good sexual harassment attorney knows, one of the biggest deterrents to victims coming forward withsexual harassment their stories is fear of retaliation and the effects it can have on their careers and well-beings. This issue is compounded infinitely for immigrant families, who not only fear risking their careers, but their entire way of life, their homes, the potential of deportation, and possible separation from their families. Even those who are in the process of becoming a legal citizen are fearful causing waves could put their citizenship in jeopardy. Sexual harassment, discrimination, and assault in the workplace is scary enough, but these personal ramifications add an exclamation point to the end of an already very frightening sentence.

The fear of deportation, even for those who are following all the rules and are actively seeking citizenship, has increased significantly recently with the current administration making a very public example of non-Americans. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in recent months invoked a “no tolerance” policy when it comes to people crossing the border from Mexico, offering little room to differentiate between asylum seekers and those committing violent crimes or trafficking drugs. This has created an environment where those already in the country tend to lay low, keep quiet, and hold their breaths to see what happens next.

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Not only is sexual harassment in the workplace illegal, but it also is costing a significant amount of money. Thesexual harassment influx of reports of sexual misconduct has led journalists and investigators to dig into the scope of these behaviors. What they have found is a trail of monetary payoffs and cover-ups over the years that have kept accusers silent and cost states and businesses a sizeable amount of money. California, despite having many protections, may be one of the biggest offenders.

The News Journal in Delaware recently revealed sexual misconduct payoffs over the past decade cost the state $663,000, plus the costs of litigation. Cases were filed alleging sexual harassment, misconduct, and discrimination across a variety of departments. Totals in other states varied pretty widely. Florida tallied $11 million in settlements, but that was over a 30-year period. Investigations in New York revealed at least $5 million in payouts from 2008-2010. Continue Reading ›

Time’s Up, an organization that has made a mission of creating a safe work environment for women of all kinds, is changing the sexual harassmentlandscape for sexual harassment lawsuits in the country. Thanks to generous donations from celebrities and regular citizens alike, the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund has a pool flagged for subsidizing employee lawsuits. Recently the group backed 10 former and current McDonald’s employees who filed complaints against the company for sexual harassment, according to a Fortune article.

The 10 women worked for franchisees in seven states, and both the franchisee owners and parent company McDonald’s Corp. were named in the complaints, recently filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Accusations include groping, indecent exposure, inappropriate comments, and sexual propositions. In addition, women alleged when they reported the incidents, they faced ridicule and sometimes retaliation afterward. Continue Reading ›

A recent survey from Association of Flight Attendants has revealed some disturbing statistics about sexual harassment in the field. sexual harassmentAccording to the survey, 68 percent of respondents said they have experienced sexual harassment during their career. Even when isolated to just the past year, 35 percent reported verbal harassment and 20 percent physical harassment. This is a significant jump over a nationwide poll, which shows 38 percent of respondents experienced workplace harassment in their careers, according to an SF Gate report. The survey that addressed all women, released by Stop Street Harassment, Raliance, and Center on Gender Equity and Health, showed 81 percent of women have experienced sexual harassment in general, whether inside or outside the workplace.

This could explain why the number is much higher for flight attendants than other workers. In other work environments, workers are often interacting with other employees. There is more oversight and potential consequence for sexual harassment. Employees see each other every day, so there is no anonymity. If the company acts with integrity, there are strict rules and prevention strategies already in place. Even with all of those factors, a shocking number of people still face harassment. But on an airplane, attendants are interacting with strangers every day. They are in tight quarters and sometimes serving drinks to guests. Not to mention, flight attendants have long been sexualized in media and advertising, adding fuel to the fire of people who think they are entitled to harass others. Continue Reading ›

It seems wherever there is a law to protect employees from harassment in the workplace, there is another law that harassers will try tosexual harassment exploit to silence their victims. State legislators are looking to tie up some of those loopholes to continue the momentum created by the #MeToo Movement. Their mission is to encourage employees to report wrongdoing without fear of repercussions and also give employers more freedom to side with and protect victims. 

AB-2770, introduced by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), would expand the information a former employer is allowed to disclose to a prospective employer to include sexual harassment allegations. Current law allows a prospective employer to ask a representative from the candidate’s previous place of employment if the company would re-hire that person if given the opportunity. The new bill would allow the former employer to cite, without malice, accusations of sexual harassment with credible evidence as the reason they would not hire back an employee. It also provides protection to employees from retaliatory defamation lawsuits in response to formal harassment accusations being filed. This would set a standard that would allow accusers and employers the freedom to discuss credible allegations more freely. Continue Reading ›

Donald Trump, the Republican Presidential nominee, caused a stir (again) by answering a reporter’s question about sexual harassment by saying that if his daughter Ivanka were to face it, he would, “advise her to find another career or find another company.” Attempting to clarify his father’s remarks, son Eric Trump said his sister, “wouldn’t allow herself to be subjected” to sexual harassment. woman

These comments came soon after Fox News chief Roger Ailes was accused of sexually harassing a slew of current and former female staff members, including one-time Fox & Friends host Gretchen Carlson.

Wherever you stand politically, it’s necessary to point out that victims of sexual harassment should not have to change careers or jobs because of the illegal behavior of their co-workers. Sometimes sexual harassment victims do end up taking this course of action when the abuse and/or harassment becomes so severe, though it’s worth noting that not everyone has the option of such fluidity in their jobs or careers. Beyond that, some don’t want to leave their jobs or careers, either because they love it or they need the money. Those who find themselves forced out of the workplace or having suffered some other negative outcome on their careers. In those cases, it is absolutely worthwhile to explore a sexual harassment lawsuit.  Continue Reading ›

Sexual harassment plaintiffs will get a new trial after the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled the trial court erroneously omitted testimony from a co-worker who testified during deposition that a supervisor instructed her to speak negatively about plaintiffs and in favor of the accused harasser. professional

In Griffin v. City of East Orange, the New Jersey Supreme Court determined the testimony of the co-worker, which was not allowed at trial because it was reportedly irrelevant, was in fact directly pertinent to plaintiffs’ claims for compensatory and punitive damages arising from a hostile work environment. Further, these statements, which involved hearsay, overcame hearsay exceptions because it constituted statements by a party’s agent or servant offered against the party (an exception via N.J.R.E. 803(b)(4) ).

The three accusers had alleged a supervisor created a hostile work environment through sexual harassment, quid pro quo sexual harassment and retaliation. She is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.  Continue Reading ›

Amid growing allegations of widespread sexual harassment at the University of California Berkely, California’s top sexual harassment investigator is initiating a comprehensive review of training policies throughout the state. womenworkers

The California Department of Fair Housing, responsible for enforcing the state’s civil rights laws, has created a task force that will specifically focus the effectiveness of current sexual harassment awareness training. The effort is being overseen by the department’s director, Kevin Kish.

The announcement came just two months after a number of allegations of misconduct by faculty arose at the university, which became national news and sparked a conversation about how we handle gender discrimination at universities and colleges. Continue Reading ›

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