The Employment Lawyers of Melmed Law Group P.C. provide free consultations for victims of sexual harassment in Los Angeles and throughout Los Angeles County. Our experienced attorneys can help you navigate through this difficult time.

If Los Angeles County were a country, its economy would be the 19th largest in the world. That’s a lot of employers and employees. It also means there’s the potential of sexual harassment in these workplaces. Research shows California has reported incidences of sexual harassment that are 5% higher for women and 10% higher for men than the national average.

Our law firm provides a free 15-minute consultation for victims of sexual harassment. Schedule a free consultation to see how our law firm and legal experts can help you move forward. 

Workplace Sexual Harassment Legal Team Serving Los Angeles and All of California

From bold advances to inappropriate remarks that turn the workplace into a hostile environment, sexual harassment is an offense not to be taken lightly.

The attorneys at our law firm understand that sexual harassment is a traumatic experience and that you may not feel comfortable discussing it. We take a sensitive approach and guide our clients through each step of the legal process answering any questions that they have to ease them during their time of distress.

We don’t just fight for our clients in Los Angeles and L.A. County, we’re here to help them heal and move forward with their life.

Our law firm offers a free 15-minute consultation with one of our skilled lawyers to help you evaluate your options, and determine the best plan of action for you.

Our Los Angeles Sexual Harassment Lawyers Can Help You File a Sexual Harassment Claim

There are two types of sexual harassment claims: quid pro quo harassment and hostile work environment harassment. Our experienced and knowledgeable attorneys at Melmed Law Group P.C can determine whether you have a claim and how to proceed.

Quid Pro Quo Harassment. This happens when a position or promotion is explicitly or implicitly conditioned on an applicant’s or employee’s submission to sexual advances or other conduct based on sex.

Hostile Work Environment Harassment. This takes place when unwelcome comments or conduct based on sex unreasonably interfere with an individual’s work performance. It also could create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. California law states that this type of harassment must be subjectively and objectively offensive and so severe or pervasive that it changes the conditions of employment and creates an abusive work environment.

Even one unwelcome act of harassment can rise to the level of constituting a hostile work environment.

Our Employment Law Firm in Los Angeles Can Help if Your Employer Retaliates

Retaliation in the workplace is also a type of unlawful discrimination that happens when an employer, employment agency, or labor organization takes adverse action against an employee, applicant, or other applicable people because they engaged in a protected activity—namely, filing a charge of discrimination with a fair employment practices agency or participating in an investigation of alleged workplace misconduct.

If you report sexual harassment, your employer may retaliate against you. This type of retaliation is illegal.

Examples of workplace retaliation include the following:

  • Being fired;
  • Receiving a demotion;
  • Receiving a reduction in pay;
  • Receiving a reduction in benefits;
  • Receiving a reduction in hours;
  • Being transferred to a different position or getting new or different duties;
  • Being reassigned to a different shift or work location; or
  • Being asked to take time off without pay.

Further, workplace retaliation can take the form of a subtle build-up, with your treatment becoming gradually worse over a period of time. Examples of this kind of workplace retaliation include the following:

  • Getting the “cold shoulder” or being ignored by coworkers;
  • No longer being invited to meetings; or
  • Being left off of communications you were on before the protected activity occurred.

An employee may bring a retaliation claim under specific California statutes or as claim a for wrongful termination or demotion in violation of public policy.

If your supervisor or the human resources department is aware of the harassment or should know that you are being sexually harassed, they’re required by law to address the issue immediately and take prompt action to try to stop the behavior, investigate the sexual harassment, and make certain that it doesn’t happen again. The company’s action also has to be “appropriate” and effective, which means that the steps they take must actually make the harassment cease without harming you or allowing you to become a target of retaliation.

Therefore, it’s highly suggested for anyone experiencing sexual harassment to document the behaviors, gather evidence through copies of internal correspondence, photos, and statements from employees, then speak to an attorney as soon as possible.  If one of these adverse consequences occurs to you, our attorneys who represents victims across California will stand by your side to fight against wrongful termination and employer retaliation in addition to any potential claims for sexual harassment.

Our Sexual Harassment Attorneys Fight on a Contingency Basis

For a lot of our cases, the fee structure that we use for sexual harassment cases is a contingency fee. This means that if you’re successful in your sexual harassment lawsuit, our law firm will be paid a predetermined percentage of that award or settlement for representing you.

What Constitutes Sexual Harassment in Los Angeles?

You may be a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace if you are subjected to:

  • Unwelcome sexual advances;
  • Unwelcome requests for sexual favors;
  • Unwelcome physical contact of a sexual nature;
  • Unwelcome verbal or visual conduct of a sexual nature;
  • Quid pro quo sexual harassment. (trading sex or sexual favors in exchange for higher pay or a promotion or some other favorable employment opportunity)

In Los Angeles, it is unlawful for anyone to harass any person based on their sex. In the workplace, sexual harassment can be in the form of comments, requests, verbal conduct of a sexual nature, gestures, and unwanted physical contact that turns a workplace into a hostile and intimidating environment.

Specific forms of sexual harassment are:

  • Sexual favors in exchange for a promotion.
  • Unwanted touching including deliberate touching, leaning over, hugging, and patting.
  • Unwanted gestures like blowing kisses.
  • Telling sexual jokes and asking sexual questions.
  • Repeated pressure for dates.
  • Whistling at or catcalling someone.
  • Stores of a sexual or suggestive nature.
  • Purposefully standing close to someone.

Further, a victim may not be a ‘direct’ victim; someone who witnessed sexual harassment, or who is subject to a sexually hostile work environment, may also have actionable claims for sexual harassment under state and federal law.

IS THERE A TIME LIMIT FOR FILING A SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIM?

There are strict limitations to bringing a sexual harassment claim. To figure out your time limitations, call our office to speak to an attorney to figure out the time limitations. Failing to do so may prevent you from recovering any damages at all.

Expert Employment Lawyers Ready to Fight For You

If you or someone you know is or was a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace in Los Angeles or L.A County, contact us at Melmed Law Group P.C. for a free consultation with one of our lawyers. We offer a free 15-minute consultation with a lawyer to help you evaluate your options, and determine the best plan of action for you.

All employees in every position have the right to a work environment that’s free from intimidation and fear. We at Melmed Law Group P.C know that sexual harassment in the workplace is a stressful and debilitating experience. Contact us for guidance through each step of the legal process.