Sexual harassment claims often turn on documentation: messages, witness accounts, and a record of any complaints made to HR or management. We help clients build that record and pursue claims against both the harassing individual and an employer that failed to take reasonable steps to prevent or correct the conduct.
Lead attorney on every case we take, backed by a dedicated legal team you work with directly.
Employers have an independent legal duty to investigate harassment complaints and take corrective action. An employer that ignores a complaint, retaliates against the person who made it, or fails to act can face liability separate from the harasser's own conduct. We evaluate both angles in every case.
Harassment claims generally take one of two forms: quid pro quo, where a job benefit is conditioned on submitting to unwelcome conduct, and hostile work environment, where the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to alter working conditions. When the harassment comes from a supervisor rather than a coworker, an employer's liability standard and available defenses can differ significantly, which makes identifying the harasser's role and the employer's response an early step in evaluating any claim.
Your Rights
Sexual harassment is, unfortunately, a common practice in the workplace. Sexual harassment is the term for harassment based on a person’s sex.
Sexual harassment is illegal. Sexual harassers are responsible for their harassing behavior. It is the victim’s right to seek compensation for any financial, physical, or emotional harm from their harasser. As long as the harassing behavior is severe enough, a victim may seek compensation.
Freundlich & Littman, LLC are your sexual harassment lawyers. Sexual harassment cases are under-reported across the country, including Philadelphia. In many instances, victims do not know that the treatment they received qualified as sexual harassment. We want to educate you on sexual harassment so that you make the right choice for your situation.
Types of Sexual Harassment
Remember that anyone can be a victim regardless of the perpetrator’s sex.
In general, sexual harassment law covers workplace incidents. Perpetrators of sexual harassment can be anyone. It does not matter whether they are in a position of power over the victim, an equal, or a subordinate. They can also be non-employees who comes in contact with the workplace, depending on the frequency.
Types of sexual harassment that we can handle may include the following:
Displaying offensive or pornographic images to intimidate or harass.
Lewd gestures.
Comments about a member’s sex or a person’s lack of conformity to gender norms.
Hiring, firing, or disciplining based on sex.
Other offensive treatment meant to degrade, belittle, embarrass, or offend a particular sex.
Perpetrators
You may be afraid that you cannot seek relief from your horrible treatment because your boss was not the one who harassed you. Fear not. To put it simply – sexual harassment in the workplace is not tolerated. The net is cast broadly to account for many people.
The courts have again cast a wide net to deal with the problems of sexual harassment. Traditionally, the supervisors were the sole perpetrators of sexual harassment. While sexual harassment is often perpetrated by supervisors, others in the workplace can be guilty of sexual harassment.
Co-workers who harass you, such as the man from the oil rig, are guilty of sexual harassment. A supervisor from another department can be guilty of sexual harassment. Even customers or clients who are in frequent contact with you in the workplace can be perpetrators of sexual harassment.
Retaliation
People are afraid to come out against their employers in any way for fear that they will lose their jobs or future employment opportunities. Perhaps you made a complaint at your Human Resources department. Your employer contacted your supervisor, reprimanded them, and sent them to sexual harassment training. Now, your supervisor is back and writes you up more than any other employee or moves your shift from the day to night. This is illegal.
Your employer may not retaliate against you for coming forward about the harassment. Even if your claims are unsuccessful in court or your company’s internal process, they still may not retaliate against you. Again, retaliation takes many forms. Generally, retaliation is any unfavorable employment action taken against you without justification. Examples include:
Changing work shifts. Write ups. Suspension. Termination.
