Torrance Sexual Harassment

Torrance is located in Los Angeles County, California. It has 1 1/2 miles of beaches along the Pacific Ocean. Some of the city's major employers include Honeywell Aerospace, Honda R& D Americas, Exxon Mobil Refinery, American Honda Motor Co Inc. and Torrance Memorial Medical Center. Regardless of where you work or the type of job you do, it can be humiliating and degrading to be sexually harassed in the workplace. Although sexual harassment is forbidden on the job under both federal and state laws, some employers look the other way when it goes on under their noses. Sometimes a workplace authority figure such as a CEO or manager or supervisor may be the perpetrator of harassment. This is not acceptable. If you have been the victim of sexual misconduct on the job, an experienced Torrance sexual harassment attorney at the Calderone Law Firm may be able to help.

Many people assume that sexual harassment only consists of men harassing women. However, sexual harassment can be perpetrated by a man against a woman, a man against a man, a woman against a woman, or a woman against a man. Moreover, it may not be an issue of sexual desire; often it has to do with power.

Workplace sexual harassment in California can include either quid pro quo sexual harassment or hostile work environment harassment. A knowledgeable Torrance lawyer can assess your sexual harassment claim to determine which category it may fall into. Quid pro quo harassment involves an authority figure, such as a manger, trying to exchange a job benefit for sexual favors. For example if your boss says you can keep your job if you engage in sexual activity with him, this would be quid pro quo sexual harassment.

A hostile work environment harassment occurs when unwelcome severe or pervasive remarks, advances, or physical acts drastically affect the work environment such that a reasonable person would find it hostile, and you too find it hostile. For example, if your coworkers email you jokes of a sexual nature on a daily basis and make lewd comments, and your supervisor tells you that you need to put up with it to be a team player, this could be actionable as hostile work environment harassment. Whether you are alleging quid pro quo harassment or hostile work environment harassment, you'll need to show that the harassing conduct was unwelcome.

The federal law prohibiting sexual harassment is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sexual harassment is a type of sex discrimination. Under federal law, it can occur where someone is harassed because of his or her sex, even if the conduct is not sexual in nature. There are some drawbacks to pursuing damages under Title VII rather than state law. For example, compensatory damages and punitive damages for sexual harassment are capped based on the size of your employer under federal law. A Torrance sexual harassment lawyer can assess whether it makes sense to bring your claims under federal or state law.

The state law prohibiting sexual harassment at California jobs is the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). In order to establish a claim for quid pro quo sexual harassment under FEHA, you'll need to prove: (1) you were subject to unwelcome comments, demands, or advances that were sexual, (2) this behavior came from an authority figure in the workplace such as a supervisor or manager, and (3) if you refused to submit to the sexual demands you faced a concrete employment action. The exchange may be either implicit or explicit. However, you'll need to be able to show that there was a causal relationship between you refusing the sexual advances and the adverse employment decision.

You can bring a hostile work environment claim under FEHA against a supervisor, coworker, manager, customer, or client. You'll need to prove: (1) you received unwelcome remarks, actions, or advances, (2) the behavior was based on your sex, and (3) it was either pervasive or severe enough to change your employment conditions and generate a hostile work environment. However, you cannot successfully bring a hostile work environment claim based on occasional or trivial incidents.

If you are facing employment discrimination or harassment in Torrance, a tough, skillful trial attorney at the Calderone Law Firm may be able provide the aggressive representation you need to recover damages. Please call the Calderone Law Firm at (424) 348-8290 or contact us through our online form.