How does $1.1 million in settlement for a sexual harassment lawsuit sounds to you? It might seem like quite a lot but bear in mind that this amount is going to be paid out to 10  Tennessee women who were abused and discriminated against for many years by the director of the head of the Cumberland County Solid Waste Department. The lawsuit was filed by the Justice Department against Cumberland County, accused of failing to protect the ten civil employees. The manager, whose name was not made public, had an abominable behavior, often grabbing, fondling and forcibly kissing the women who worked for him. He would make frequent comments about their looks and ask them for sexual favors. The guy was forced to resign and is now awaiting trial on criminal charges.

If you’ve been subjected to  sexual harassment in the workplace, you should follow these brave women’s example and go see a lawyer.  In the state of Tennessee, employees are protected against sexual discrimination in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as well as under the Tennessee Human Rights Act. This act covers people working in private or public companies with eight or more employees.

When you reach out to sexual harassment lawyers, they will explain to you what are the steps to be followed in a sexual harassment case and also what constitutes sexual harassment and what not. One thing you need to know right from the start is that in Tennessee there is no such thing as individual liability in a case of sexual harassment. If you’re being harassed by a coworker, he cannot be held accountable for violating the Tennessee Human Rights Act. If it comes to that, you’ll have to sue the employer. That’s what happened in the above-mentioned case. The manager will face criminal charges for his actions, which amount to sexual assault, but the damages will be paid out by his employer, Cumberland County.

Experienced employment lawyers will have a look at all the facts you present and decide if it’s a quid pro quo case or a hostile environment one.

The Cumberland County scandal is clearly a quid pro quo case as it was the women’s direct supervisor who was harassing them and asking for sexual favors.

A hostile environment case is when the plaintiff is targeted and harassed by one or more coworkers. It can be verbal harassment, like lewd comments and jokes, but it can also be visual harassment if your tormentors display sexually explicit images, drawings or posters around the office. Modern technology also facilitates sexual harassment and in many cases the victims are bombarded with indecent text, video or audio messages. Don’t delete any of them, they can be disturbing, but very useful as evidence.

Tennessee sexual harassment lawyers usually advise their clients to first complain to the manager or employer, giving them the opportunity to make things right.

If that doesn’t happen, your next step is to complain to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which can negotiate a settlement or file a lawsuit in your name.

Sexual discrimination of any kind, including sexual harassment, is illegal in the United States, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In Oklahoma, there’s also the Anti-Discrimination Act that prohibits employment discrimination based on sex. Yet, sexual harassment is still rampant in the workplace and the only way to put an end to it is to stand up against your tormentors. Not alone. There’s no need to go alone when all you have to do is look up a good lawyer with plenty of experience in this area.

Seeking legal advice is important first of all to understand if you do have a case. You need to establish that the situation you’re faced with would be offensive to a reasonable person, if you want to stay within the law. 

When you reach out to sexual harassment lawyers they’ll ask very specific questions about the incidents that upset you. For instance, if a coworker asks you out on a date, that’s not sexual harassment. Not when he does it for the first time, at least. If you say no and make it clear that you’re not interested but they keep asking you out, then, yes, that is sexual harassment.

At the same time, experienced employment lawyers will want to know how you reacted to the sexual comments, jokes, messages, etc. Some victims try to laugh it off or go along with the joke, hoping they’ll be let alone. This approach might work with schoolyard bullies – ignore them and they’ll leave you alone. With sexual harassment, that’s rarely the case. Moreover, your harasser might use this against you later on. If you don’t object and don’t tell them they’re being offensive, they might claim that you enjoyed their behavior. Or even encouraged it!

Seasoned Oklahoma sexual harassment lawyers will most certainly advise you to say something to your harasser. Firmly, but politely! Remember that it’s in your best interest to stay civil and within the law, no matter how angry you are.

The next step is to complain to your employer about the hostile environment and ask them to intervene. You don’t actually have to ask them that, they’re required to do that. In some cases, this helps, but there’s no guarantee. In many cases, those who engage in sexual harassment do so knowing that the boss won’t make a big deal out of it. They might even encourage such behavior. 

When your employer has been made aware of the situation, but they choose to ignore your complaint or threaten you with retaliation, your attorney will help you file a formal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The federal commission will look into your case and they might initiate negotiations between you and your employer. They can even sue on your behalf, or they might issue a ‘right to sue’ letter, which means that it’s up to you to proceed with a lawsuit. Your attorney will do the rest!

 

A Cincinnati-based company has agreed to pay $22,500 in damages to settle a federal sexual harassment suit. The suit stems from the charges brought by a former female employee at Total Maintenance Solutions who was subjected to sexual harassment during the time she worked them. According to her complaint, she had to endure sexual overtures, inappropriate comments and touching. After repeated complaints to the employer, she was fired, which left her with no alternative but to take the matter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). 

If you think you have a case of sexual harassment, you should see a lawyer right away. There’s no point in waiting. Or suffering.

Your rights are protected under the Ohio Civil Rights Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but no one can help you if you don’t say anything. 

The charges in the Cincinnati company case amount to the creation of a hostile work environment, one of the two types of sexual harassment in the workplace. This refers to sexually-suggestive comments, messages, jokes or visual displays around the office, as well as to unwanted touching. 

When you talk to experienced sexual harassment lawyers, they’ll want to hear about the incidents, in detail. It is very important to establish if the conduct of your coworkers can be judged to be of a sexual nature. Obviously, when one or more of your colleagues pester you with questions about your sex life or make a move to grab your buttocks, that’s clearly sexual harassment. On the other hand, if a colleague compliments your earrings or your new haircut, that cannot be viewed as harassment. 

You’ll want savvy employment lawyers to help you document all the evidence. Write down everything: date, place, who said or did what, and who else was present, as they might be called to testify. Don’t worry about that, employee who help someone in a sexual harassment case are protected against retaliation.

Another thing you need to know is that you cannot take the matter to court right away. There are other steps that need to come first. If you look at the Cincinnati story, the woman first complained to her employer, and that is what you should do. They are required by law to investigate your accusations and take disciplinary actions against those responsible.

There are also situations when a supervisor or business owner pressures an employee into sex. Those are called quid pro quo cases, and they represent sexual harassment. In such cases, complaining to the boss is not really an option, so whether or not you made an internal complaint or not will be less relevant when the case goes to trial. 

If your employer does not react to your complaint, or they do by retaliating, your Ohio sexual harassment lawyers will help you file a complaint with the EEOC. They’ll also advise you on what sort of damages you should ask for. Depending on the situation, you can seek economic damages (for lost wages) and non-economic damages. The latter refer to your mental suffering, and include costs associated with therapy. And, of course, you’ll want your employer to cover your legal expenses, as well. 

Civil rights activists in New Mexico continue their fight against sexual discrimination in the workplace. Much remains to be done, even though the New Mexico Human Rights Act clearly prohibits any type of discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity in all companies with four or more employees. The #MeToo movement registered a major victory in 2020, when the law was amended to stop employers from using Non-disclosure agreements in order to prevent employees from reporting sexual harassment cases.

When you reach out to a lawyer, they will ask about any NDA, just to make sure your employer is not breaking the law by trying to gag you. At the same time, they’ll want to know if there’s an anti-discrimination policy in your company and whether employees receive training on how to prevent sexual harassment. These elements are very important when it comes to assessing liability. Sexual harassment training is not mandatory in New Mexico, but judges tend to be more severe with employers who fail to enact such policy as it shows lack of care in providing a safe environment for all employees.

Sexual harassment lawyers will listen to your story and advise you on how to proceed. Usually, victims of sexual harassment are encouraged to talk to their employer about the abuse they were subjected to. That’s if the employer is not part of the problem, which is the case in many stories. When a supervisor or an employee in a senior position is harassing you, clearly waiting for you to give in and accept to have sex with them, that’s a quid pro quo case.

If you’re being harassed by one or more coworkers, that’s a case of a hostile environment. In order to prove hostile environment, employment lawyers advise their clients on what type of proof do they need. Any sort of verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature can be used to prove sexual harassment. In some cases, the harasser displays sexual messages or images in the workplace to humiliate their victims. Telling sexual jokes or making suggestive sounds or gestures also amounts to harassment. To win a case, you’ll need to prove that it was not some isolated incident, but you were forced to work in an atmosphere of pervasive sexual harassment.

When you’re contemplating filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the state Human Rights Agency, you’ll want skilled New Mexico sexual harassment lawyers working on your side. That’s very important as the law can be used to condition the type of damages you are entitled to by by forcing you to keep your mouth shut about the abuse you’ve experienced. You might be pressured to accept confidentiality provisions. In other words, you can only get the money, if you agree not to disclose the amount or any information that could lead to the identification of the employer. That’ s very restrictive, but civil rights activists are looking into challenging this provision, too.

On paper, all employees in Minnesota are protected against any form of discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment.  The Minnesota Human Rights Act, clearly prohibits workplace discrimination  based on sex (including pregnancy and child birth), sexual orientation, or marital status. The law applies to both private and public companies. In real life, however, sexual harassment is still very much a thing and many victims are too afraid to speak out. Talking to a lawyer is the first step to put an end to this type of abuse and shaming those who have made you suffer. Also, make them pay for what they did. 

How can sexual harassment lawyers help victims of sex-based discrimination? First of all, they can help you understand if you do have a case. And, looking at recent court decisions in Minnesota it might be easier than you think. 

According to the law, sexual harassment occurs when a supervisor solicits sexual favors from an employee, or when the plaintiff can prove they had to work in a hostile environment.

In recent years, there’s been a lot of debate in Minnesota about what constitutes sexual harassment and what doesn’t. If you look at the law, an employee needs to prove there was a pervasively hostile work environment and explain the type of harassment they were subjected to. This can be anything from comments on their looks, sexually-charged remarks or conversations, as well as explicit jokes shared specifically to intimidate them and make them uncomfortable. At the same time, the display of sexually-suggestive images in the workplace or repeatedly sending offensive messages also falls under sexual harassment. 

One of the main problem victims of sexual harassment are faced with is proving the pervasive nature of such incidents. However, Minnesota sexual harassment lawyers have successfully challenged this notion and the judges in more than one case ruled that credibility determinations are unnecessary when it comes to sexual harassment. Basically, the court decided to eliminate the need to weigh if the incidents cited by the victim amount to a pervasively hostile work environment.

Employment lawyers say this is good news for the victims as it’s easier to prove they were sexually harassed. On the other hand, one needs to keep in mind that this doesn’t happen in all cases. It all depends on the judge and on the attorney you choose. 

At the same time, sexual harassment victims need to understand that the first step in finding justice is usually filing a complaint with the Minnesota Human Rights Commission. This commission can mediate between the plaintiff and their employer and can also award damages. You will need a skilled lawyer during these negotiations, which can be very nasty as the employer and their lawyers won’t hesitate to try to destroy your reputation and credibility.

If a settlement cannot be reached through mediation, your lawyer will guide through the process of filing a lawsuit so your voice gets heard in a court of law.