Sexual Harassment

No one should have to tolerate sexual harassment to keep a job. California law gives employees strong protection, and a sexual harassment lawyer can help you stop the harassment, protect your career, and recover for the harm it caused.

Smith Trial Group represents employees throughout Orange County and Southern California in sexual harassment and retaliation cases. Consultations are confidential, and we handle these cases on contingency.

On this page: Types of harassment · Who is responsible · Retaliation for reporting · Confidentiality agreements · What to do · FAQ

Types of Sexual Harassment

• Quid pro quo: job benefits such as hiring, promotion, schedules, or continued employment are conditioned on submitting to sexual advances.
• Hostile work environment: unwelcome sexual comments, jokes, messages, images, touching, or advances that create an intimidating or offensive workplace. In California, a single serious incident can be enough. See hostile work environment.

Harassment does not have to be motivated by sexual desire, and it can occur between people of any gender.

Who Is Responsible

Employers are strictly liable for sexual harassment by supervisors. For harassment by coworkers, customers, or vendors, the employer is liable if it knew or should have known and failed to take prompt corrective action. Individual harassers can also be held personally liable, and California’s harassment protections apply to employers of every size.

Retaliation for Reporting Harassment

It is illegal to retaliate against an employee for reporting harassment, supporting a coworker’s complaint, or participating in an investigation. Retaliation can include termination, demotion, schedule cuts, or a sudden wave of write-ups. See retaliation.

Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreements

California limits the use of nondisclosure provisions to hide workplace harassment. Settlement and separation agreements generally cannot prevent an employee from disclosing information about unlawful acts in the workplace, though the amount of a settlement can be kept confidential in many cases.

What to Do

1. Keep a written record of each incident, including dates, details, and witnesses.
2. Preserve texts, emails, social media messages, and voicemails.
3. Report the harassment under your employer’s policy, in writing if you can.
4. Talk to a lawyer before signing any agreement or resigning.

Most FEHA claims must first be filed with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), generally within three years, before a lawsuit can be filed. Other employment claims have their own deadlines, some much shorter. Talk to a lawyer promptly.

Helpful resources: CRD: Employment Rights · EEOC: Sexual Harassment

Examples of Sexual Harassment

• Unwanted touching, hugging, kissing or blocking someone’s movement.
• Sexual comments, jokes, questions about someone’s sex life, or comments about their body.
• Sending sexual images, messages or videos, including through personal phones and social media.
• Repeated requests for dates after being told no.
• Offering promotions, raises or schedules in exchange for sexual favors, or threatening consequences for refusing.
• Harassment based on sex that is not sexual in nature, such as hostility toward women in a male-dominated workplace.

The Legal Standard

California law prohibits harassment that is severe or pervasive enough to alter the conditions of employment. The California Legislature has stated that a single incident can be enough if it is severe, that harassment does not need to cause a decline in work productivity, and that harassment cases are rarely appropriate for dismissal before trial. Harassment by someone of the same sex, and harassment not motivated by sexual desire, are also prohibited.

Your Employer’s Obligations

California employers with five or more employees must provide sexual harassment prevention training to supervisors and employees and must take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment. Employers must investigate complaints promptly and take effective corrective action. Failing to prevent harassment is itself a violation of FEHA.

Deadlines and Older Conduct

FEHA claims generally require a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department within three years. When harassment is part of a continuing pattern, earlier conduct may still be considered. If the harassment involved sexual assault, longer deadlines may apply. See how to report sexual harassment and hostile work environment.

Frequently Asked Questions

I did not report the harassment right away. Is it too late?

Not necessarily. Many people delay reporting out of fear. California’s CRD deadline is generally three years, but acting sooner preserves evidence.

Will my case be confidential?

Our consultations are confidential. Whether a case becomes public depends on how it proceeds; we will discuss your privacy concerns from the start.

Related guides: How to report sexual harassment · Signs of workplace retaliation