Sexual Harassment

The team at M.R. Parker Law has years of labor and employment experience and has secured millions of dollars in judgments for plaintiffs throughout Southern California. We have handled claims of wage and hour violations, discrimination, sexual harassment, and wrongful termination.

There are two types of sexual harassment in the workplace, “quid-pro-quo” and “hostile environment.”

“Quid-pro-quo” is Latin for “this for that.” It is a trade. When the trade is on the basis of sex, it is illegal. This is the when the employer makes sex a prerequisite to getting something in the workplace. For example: “sleep with me and you’ll get the job.” That’s illegal. This type of sexual harassment in the workplace is the “casting couch” cliché. Quid-pro-quo can also include negatives. For example, “sleep with me or you’re fired” is also illegal.

On the other hand, hostile environment sexual harassment in the workplace is a situation in which the employer, supervisor, or co-worker does or says things that make the victim feel uncomfortable because of his or her sex. Hostile environment sexual harassment in the workplace does not need to include a demand for an exchange of sex for a job benefit. It is the creation of an “uncomfortable environment.”

Anyone who is offended by a sexually harassing environment may theoretically sue. However, that employee’s offense must be reasonable. An extremely sensitive person might not be able to maintain a claim, because her feelings of having been offended were not reasonable.

The reasonableness is evaluated by a standard that is the same as a person in the victim’s circumstances. For example, what a reasonable woman might think is a hostile environment is not necessarily the same as what a man might think is a hostile environment. If it’s a woman who was harassed, it’s the woman’s point of view that counts.

Call an experienced California Sexual Harassment Attorney today for a FREE consultation – 818-334-5711.