Under California law, any kind of workplace harassment gives way to an intimidating working environment. Sexual harassment doesn’t always mean physical abuse. It also means verbal abuse or acts. It can be- asking for sexual favors, passing offensive comments, unwanted sexual suggestions, someone blocking your way, leering gestures, wrongful termination due to reporting about workplace harassment; displaying sexually suggestive cartoons, pictures or objects, obscene invitations or messages, unwelcomed sexual acts, and someone offering you to give something in exchange of sexual favors.
If you’ve been harassed in some way or the other, there’s no need to know how to write a two weeks’ notice letter because you can quit without informing. Both state and the federal level have provisions to protect employee’s rights against workplace harassment. At the state level, the main source of workplace harassment law is the FEHA or the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. At the federal level, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits sexual harassment at the workplace. So, if you’ve lost your job for the aforementioned reasons, you can claim unemployment benefits. How to win your unemployment hearing will depend on how good your attorney is and how strong your evidence is. Attorneys play a tremendous role in sexual harassment cases and you need one to get trusted legal advice on the same.
Types of Sexual Harassment in California:
The state law as well as the federal laws of California identifies two types of sexual harassment at the workplace.
- Quid Pro Quo– It is a Latin phrase which means exchange of one thing for the other. It means ‘something for something’. It basically elaborates on the idea of exchange. Quid pro Quo usually takes place – when someone threatens you, ask you for sexual favors, conditions you to give you employment or promote you in exchange for sexual favors, or any kind of sexual behavior. It can be embedded as a risk or propose. Such sexual acts are a threat to an employee and give way to unfriendly working conditions as there are no provisions for their protection against such abuses. An employee should report the incident to the employer (in case you’ve been threatened by your co-worker, client, customer,). If the employer doesn’t take any necessary action, the employee can consult an attorney to file a lawsuit and the liability has to borne by the employer since he/she didn’t take any action to protect their employee’s rights. Nakese law firm is the best employment attorney having experience in sexual harassment, racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and unpaid wages.
- Hostile working environment– An inappropriate behavior that disgraces, debases, distresses, and sufficiently offends an individual in a workplace, so as to disturb the mental and emotional serenity of a victim, and affects their ability to work safely can be referred to as the ‘hostile working environment’. Such an intimidating work culture doesn’t allow a victim to perform their duties and also threatens their safety and personal well-being at the workplace. You should consult an employment attorney to know your legal rights, and if your situation could be legally defined as a ‘hostile working environment’. Any sexual conduct is unlawful and can give way to hostile working conditions.
Therefore, it’s important to have an employment attorney by your side to build your case strong. The gravity of the conduct needs to be severely offensive and abusive to prove your claims.
