Most people agree that sexual harassment in the workplace is totally unacceptable in today’s world. Yet, many employees, male or female, still find themselves subjected to this type of demeaning treatment. One of the main problems victims are faced with is that taking a stand requires a lot of courage and proving that you were wronged can be difficult, particularly in a state like Mississippi, one of the few American states that do not have a specific law prohibiting sexual harassment.

However, Mississippi employees who feel that they are discriminated based on sex should get in touch with a good lawyer. Even if Mississippi doesn’t have a sexual harassment law, your rights are still protected under federal law, namely Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

Sexual harassment is clearly defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.“  According to the EEOC, there are two types of sexual harassment cases, depending on who’s responsible for it.

If it’s a supervisor or anyone from management level and they’re asking for sexual favors in return for a promotion or under the threat of firing you, that’s a quid pro quo case. Some people might be very blunt in their approach and ask you to have sex with them directly, while others might use suggestive language and make sexual overtures to determine you to comply. Both approaches qualify as sexual harassment and you should talk to some experienced employment lawyers specializing in this area. 

On the other hand, when it’s some colleague that’s harassing you that falls under hostile work environment. Under the law, the sexual harassment incidents need to be of a pervasive nature to amount to a hostile environment. Any type of verbal communication of a sexual nature (jokes, lewd remarks or comments) can be used as proof. Also, unwelcome touching is considered harassment.

However, Mississippi sexual harassment lawyers can help you prove you were harassed even if was just one incident, on condition that it was something very serious. For instance, if someone presses you against a wall, grabs your buttocks or touches you in an inappropriate way, you can file a complaint for sexual harassment, according to a decision of the  Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

If you find yourself in such a situation and don’t know what to do, seasoned sexual harassment lawyers can explain what are the legal steps you should follow. 

First of all, you need to file a complaint with your employer. They are required to investigate and take disciplinary action against those responsible. If they don’t do anything, your attorneys will help you file a complaint directly with the EEOC. The commission can mediate between you and your employer, or even file a lawsuit on your behalf. In some cases, they might decide not to litigate and issue a “notice of right-to-sue”. This means that it’s you who should file a lawsuit and, once again, you’ll need a well-versed attorney. 

‘I was just joking’. That’s basically the defense used by Pat Magee, head of the criminal division with the Louisiana Attorney General Office, who was recently accused of sexual harassment. That’s the most common excuse heard in sexual harassment cases, although not something one would expect from someone in such a position as Magee. What’s more disheartening for sexual harassment victims, the investigation in this case concluded that his behavior was indeed inappropriate, but did not amount to sexual harassment.

If you were subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace, you need to talk to a good lawyer and see how you can use the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law to put an end to your daily suffering and win compensation for what you had to put up with. The law clearly prohibits employers with 20 or more employees working within the state from intentionally discriminating with respect to sex.

Experienced Louisiana sexual harassment lawyers will explain how you, too, can use this law and what are your legal options.

The first step is to complain to your employer about the sexual harassment you were subjected to. All Louisiana employers, public or private, are encouraged to have a strong anti-harassment policy and provide a complaint procedure for reporting inappropriate conduct. This may or may not be possible in your case. 

There have been various cases when those engaging in harassing behavior were top management personnel or directly related to the business owner, in which case there’s no one you can complain to. Judges have been found to be most understanding in such circumstances. However, if there is a complaint procedure you can use don’t hesitate to do so. The employer needs to be offered a chance to address the situation before you can proceed with a formal complaint to state authorities or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

You will want knowledgeable employment lawyers assisting you in formulating your complaint to maximize your chances to win adequate compensation for your suffering. Your attorneys will help you establish a timeline of the events, and you’ll need to be able to cite a significant number of incidents to prove that you had to put up with a hostile work environment.

You need sexual harassment lawyers with many years of practice in the area as they might need to conduct their own investigation before you can file a complaint. For instance, your attorneys will want to talk to those of your coworkers who witnessed those distressing incidents. They should be able to testify that you were made uncomfortable by the sexual jokes and lewd comments of your harassers, you objected to them and made it clear such behavior was definitely not welcome. When a guy makes a bad joke, that can be excused, but when he persists with this conduct that’s a clear case of sexual harassment.

In many cases, mediation conducted by state authorities can be enough to settle the dispute, but when this is not possible your lawyers will take the matter to court.

In recent years, there’s been so much talk on sexual discrimination in the United States, you’d expect no one would still have to endure sexual harassment in the workplace. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of such shameful cases and the only way to put an end to it is that sexual harassment victims fight back. You don’t need to fight alone. You need a good lawyer on your side, someone with years of practice in this area of the law.

If you live and work in Colorado, your rights to a safe work environment are fully protected under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which specifically prohibits the discrimination of an employee based on their sex or sexual orientation. This Act is commonly used in sexual harassment cases, whether the victim is male or female. In the vast majority of cases, it’s women that are subjected to sexual harassment, but men, straight or gay, can also experience this type of unlawful discrimination. 

When you schedule an initial free consultation with experienced Colorado Sexual harassment lawyers, they’ll want to have a look at the facts, to determine if you have a case. Reliving and retelling all the instances when you were ridiculed or harassed can be very painful, but it’s a necessary step if you want to build a strong case.

Experienced employment lawyers with plenty of experience in sexual harassment cases will tell you exactly what you need to do. 

First of all you need to establish a timeline. It might be that you were exposed to sexual harassment from the first day you joined the company, but it might also be that all your troubles started when a supervisor or managers got it into his head that you’re in their power and requested sexual favors from you. Recalling when it all started and being able to indicate specific dates you were subjected to any type of sexual harassment will be very helpful in finding witnesses.

It would be very difficult to win a case if it’s just your word against that of your manager, which is why seasoned sexual harassment lawyers will want to talk to any coworker who might be willing to corroborate your story. You need witnesses who can recall specific incidents and can describe both the general mood in the office and your reaction. This is essential as, in most cases, the guilty parties will deny malicious intent, claiming it was just a joke and they apologized when you took offense. 

To win a sexual harassment case, you need to prove that was not an innocent joke, nor was it an isolated incident. Ideally, a coworker will testify that it was a pervasive atmosphere of sexual harassment, you were regularly subjected to sexual jokes, inappropriate touching, lewd messages, and so on. They could also talk about your obvious pain and how this type of behavior affected your mental state and your work.

It’s not that hard to find witnesses for such cases as they’re also protected under the law, and your employer certainly knows that. Just as they knew that sexual harassment is unacceptable in today’s workplace, yet did nothing to put an end to it. 

Any form of sex-based discrimination is illegal in South Dakota, as in all other American states. This type of discrimination was first prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The principle was upheld and expanded upon in the South Dakota Human Relations Act. While things are pretty clear to lawmakers and members of the legal profession, in many cases it turns out that those who were supposed to benefit from these laws, namely the employees, have only a vague notion of their rights. If you’re dealing with sexual harassment in your workplace and don’t know what to do, you should contact an experienced lawyer. 

One of the problems affecting victims of sexual harassment is the feeling of loneliness or powerlessness, and this can be a paralyzing feeling. With the help of highly-trained sexual harassment lawyers you can overcome your fears. First of all, because they will listen to you with an open mind. You need to expect to be asked many questions as an attorney must understand what type of situation you’re dealing with.

The law defines two types of sexual harassment. First, you have the so-called quid pro quo cases. This refers to an employee being pressured into having sex with a supervisor, a business owner or anyone in a senior position within the company. If they suggest compliance will earn you a nice pay raise or promotion, that’s a clear quid pro quo. The same goes for employees threatened with termination if they don’t comply.

You’ll need well-versed employment lawyers to prove such a case, as, in general, this kind of requests are made in private. Few guys are as brazen as to ask for sexual favors when there are witnesses around. Your best option is to talk to other employees who might have been in a similar situation. They can corroborate your story and they needn’t worry about the consequences. Retaliating against an employee who makes or supports a sexual harassment claim is against the law, and it might cost your employer quite a lot.

The second type of sexual harassment is known as hostile work environment. South Dakota sexual harassment lawyers have heard many terrible stories of this kind of abuse. 

This type of harassment is more common in male-dominated workplaces. A woman may be signaled out and bombarded with sexual comments or jokes, asked very intimate questions, or physically abused. Basically any type of unwanted touching can be seen as harassing. Someone pinning you against the wall, grabbing your buttocks or trying to kiss you, that’s clear sexual harassment. You will have to write down all the incidents, describe what happened in detail, and, again, look for witnesses willing to give testimony.

In most cases, your attorney will advise you to talk to your employer and see if they’re willing to take any action. If they’re not, the next step is to complain to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They will look into the case and if your story checks out, they can award you damages, without having to go to court. 

A restaurant chain in Eastern Nebraska was sentenced to pay $85,000 in damages to a former employee who was sexually harassed while working there as a teenager. The woman had accused her former manager of groping her and making inappropriate comments about her physical appearance. Some male coworkers also joined in to torment the girl. To make matters even worse, when the girl’s mother complained about the abuse her daughter was subjected to, the enraged manager showed up at their house repeatedly trying to intimidate them. 

The case was brought to the attention of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who, in addition to the damages awarded to the plaintiff, ordered the restaurant chain El Vallarta’s Gretna  to provide training to all its employees to make sure such things won’t happen again. 

If you, too, are sexually harassed in your place of work, the best thing you can do is contact experienced Nebraska sexual harassment lawyers and have them look at your case. The  Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA) prohibits all forms of harassment or discrimination of employees based on sex. The law applies to both public and private companies with 15 or more employees. People who work in smaller businesses can, instead, use Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when they want to complain about workplace sexual harassment. 

A good lawyer will listen to all the facts and tell you how best to proceed. In most cases, the first step is to talk to your employer or file a complaint with the HR department. As the above mentioned case shows, sometimes this approach doesn’t work. It is very difficult to complain to your boss when they’re the ones harassing you. Nevertheless, this is the first thing you should do, if only to be able to prove in court that you did not initiate the sexual advances, did not welcome them and objected to them. This is necessary as in many cases, those doing the harassing will claim that the victim started it or even enjoyed it. 

If your complaint is ignored and no action is taken, employment lawyers specializing in sexual harassment cases will help you take your case to the EEOC or the state authorities. You will need to document your complaint thoroughly, describing the sexual harassment incidents and bringing what supporting evidence you can get. If it’s mostly verbal harassment, it would be very useful to bring witnesses to testify on your behalf. 

Often enough, when one employee summons the courage to stand up to their tormentors, others may be encouraged to speak out as well. Some might be afraid of the consequences, but the law also prohibits retaliation against those who make such complaints or against those who support them with their testimony. Should your employer retaliate against any of them they’re in for even more trouble.

Sexual harassment lawyers can use any such retaliatory measures to increase the amount of damages they seek. According to the law, an employee subjected to sexual harassment should be compensated for lost wages if they were fired or forced to quit their job because of the hostile environment. At the same time, the victims are entitled to seek punitive damages for all their suffering.