Every employee deserves a safe and fair work environment. And most employers take appropriate steps to make this goal a reality. However, it is not uncommon for employees to report incidents of sexual harassment at work. One of the most subtle, yet devastating, forms...
Workplace Sexual Harassment
Why don’t people report workplace harassment?
In some cases, when sexual harassment is reported, people ask why it wasn’t reported earlier. Maybe it comes out that a person was harassed on the job a year or two ago. Why didn’t they report it right away? In fact, some people will try to use this fact to minimize...
Is it harassment if a co-worker asks you out?
Your office doesn’t have a policy saying that employees cannot date each other, and so one of your coworkers asked you if you’d like to go on a date. Perhaps you saw it coming in advance, or maybe it took me by surprise. Either way, what you’re wondering is this: Is...
Are you being harassed online by a co-worker?
Social media makes it easy for users to follow their friends' accounts, people their friends know or people they may know but don’t follow yet. One such way companies do this is by tracking user locations and matching them up with other users around them through...
I’ve been sexually harassed at work. What should I do?
Employers have a duty to create and maintain a work environment that is devoid of all forms of harassment, including workplace harassment. Consequently, California and federal laws require employers to respond to any complaints of sexual harassment at work. If you...
What are the 2 main types of workplace sexual harassment?
You might think you will know sexual harassment when you see it. Yet, if you wish to take legal action to defend yourself against it, it is essential to understand how the law sees things. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act allows you to take action when one of two...
Documenting sexual harassment in the workplace: What to know
Inappropriate touching, jokes and comments that are sexual in nature are just some of the examples of acts that qualify as sexual harassment. Unfortunately, sexual harassment is a major issue in the workplace throughout the United States, and it is something that both...
Both California and federal laws prohibit same-sex sexual harassment
If you ever thumb through your employee handbook or think back to any orientation you might have received, then you'll likely be able to identify some of the many behaviors that constitute sexual harassment. You may not remember reading or learning how sexual...
Workplace sexual harassment can be done virtually
Workplace sexual harassment has traditionally involved inappropriate comments and unwanted attention from people with whom victims share a workplace. However, these days, with so much of our work communication done via computer and phone and often from home, workplace...
Standing against workplace sexual harassment offers many rewards
Across all industries, many members of the El Segundo, California workforce regularly experience workplace sexual harassment. From lewd remarks to inappropriate touching to unwanted advances, such harassment takes many forms. Just the same, many victims never speak...