Finding sexual harassment lawyers in Hawaii

The Hawaii Fair Employment Practices Law specifically prohibits workplace discrimination based on sex, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions. An employer in the state of Hawaii will be held accountable for any violation of the law, even if they claim to have had no knowledge of any sexual harassment taking place in their company. Ignorance is not an excuse when you are required to take stringent measures to prevent such things from happening.

If you’ve been subjected to sexual harassment in this state, all you need to do is contact the best Hawaii sexual harassment lawyers and have them take a look at your case.

Sexual harassment is defined in detail by the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission’s regulations. Thus, anything from verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature to unwelcome sexual advance or requests for sexual favors, falls under sexual harassment if such acts were committed by fellow employees or anyone from management level.

However, certain conditions need to be met for the case to hold in court and you’ll need a good lawyer to establish that.

First of all, you’ll need to prove that what happened to you was not an isolated incident. If someone made a sexist joke in your presence, they can easily claim that it is in no way directed at you. You’ll have to prove you were subjected to this type of abuse on a permanent basis, which created a hostile work environment.

Also, highly-experienced employment lawyers will want to prove in court that you were forced to endure constant harassment or risk losing your job. It’s a known fact that employees that complain about such behavior are often let go, or their workmates or supervisors make their life so miserable they have no other option but to quit their job. For instance, women who complain about their coworkers’ sexist attitude often find themselves given the most strenuous tasks or their work is constantly sabotaged.

Another type of sexual harassment is when someone in a position of power requires sexual favors from you. They don’t even need to use threats, as you’ll know what’s at stake. Your direct supervisor can have you fired or they can come up with any sort of pretexts to deny you a promotion or a raise. This constitutes a quid pro quo case and you have a very good chance to win in a lawsuit, on condition you can prove that person asked you to have sex with them.

You’ll need to talk to knowledgeable sexual harassment lawyers to help you gather the evidence that you need to file a complaint to the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission or a lawsuit against your employer.

In a sexual harassment lawsuit you are entitled to seek damages for lost wages, in case you were fired or you quit your job. You can also ask for punitive damages, for all the suffering you were put through while you worked there.