California Sexual Harassment & Hostile Work Environment Attorney

 

No employee should have to endure sexual harassment, unwanted sexual conduct, or a hostile work environment. California law protects employees from sexual harassment by supervisors, managers, coworkers, clients, customers, vendors, and other people in the workplace.

 

At Stroman Employment Law, California employment attorney Cody Stroman represents employees who have experienced sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, discrimination, failure to investigate, or other unlawful workplace conduct.

​

What Is Sexual Harassment in California?

 

Sexual harassment occurs when an employee is subjected to unwelcome sexual conduct, comments, advances, requests, or behavior that affects their employment or creates an abusive, intimidating, offensive, or hostile work environment.

 

Sexual harassment does not always involve physical touching. It may include verbal comments, text messages, images, gestures, jokes, repeated advances, threats, favoritism based on sexual relationships, or other conduct of a sexual nature.

 

Sexual harassment may be unlawful even if the harasser claims they were “joking,” the conduct occurred outside the office, or the employee was not immediately fired or demoted.

​

Common Examples of Workplace Sexual Harassment

 

Sexual harassment can take many forms. Common examples include:

​

• Unwanted sexual comments, jokes, or innuendo

• Repeated requests for dates or romantic attention

• Comments about an employee’s body, appearance, clothing, or sex life

• Unwanted touching, hugging, brushing, grabbing, or other physical contact

• Sexual text messages, emails, photos, videos, or social media messages

• Displaying sexual images or content at work

• Threatening an employee’s job, schedule, pay, or promotion opportunities if they reject sexual advances

• Offering workplace benefits in exchange for sexual conduct

• Spreading sexual rumors about an employee

• Harassment based on sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or pregnancy

• Retaliating against an employee for rejecting advances or reporting harassment

 

Sexual harassment cases often depend on timing, witness testimony, text messages, emails, workplace complaints, prior reports, investigation records, inconsistent explanations, and whether the employer took prompt and effective corrective action.

​

Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment

 

Quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs when a supervisor, manager, or person with authority conditions a job benefit on submission to sexual conduct, or threatens an employment consequence if the employee refuses.

​

Examples may include a supervisor implying that an employee must go on a date, tolerate sexual comments, engage in sexual conduct, or accept unwanted advances to keep their job, receive hours, avoid discipline, obtain a promotion, or receive favorable treatment.

​

Even a single incident may be enough to support a claim when job benefits or job security are tied to sexual conduct.

​

Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment

 

A hostile work environment may exist when sexual harassment is severe or pervasive enough to make the workplace intimidating, offensive, abusive, or hostile.

 

Examples may include repeated sexual jokes, comments about an employee’s body, unwanted touching, sexually explicit messages, inappropriate workplace conversations, or conduct that humiliates, isolates, or intimidates the employee.

 

An employee does not need to prove that the workplace was unbearable every day. The issue is whether the conduct altered the conditions of employment and created an unlawful working environment.

 

Sexual Harassment by Supervisors, Coworkers, Clients, or Customers

 

California employees may be protected from sexual harassment by more than just direct supervisors. Harassment may be unlawful when committed by:

​

• Supervisors or managers

• Coworkers

• Owners or executives

• Clients or customers

• Vendors or contractors

• Other third parties connected to the workplace

 

Employers have a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent and correct sexual harassment. When an employer knows or should know about harassment and fails to take appropriate corrective action, the employer may be liable for the harm caused.

​

Retaliation After Reporting Sexual Harassment

 

Employees have the right to report sexual harassment without being punished. It is unlawful for an employer to retaliate against an employee because they complained about harassment, rejected sexual advances, participated in an investigation, supported a coworker’s complaint, or opposed unlawful workplace conduct.

 

Retaliation may include:

• Termination

• Demotion

• Discipline or write-ups

• Reduced hours or worse schedules

• Exclusion from meetings or opportunities

• Negative performance reviews

• Transfers to less desirable positions

• Increased scrutiny

• Hostility from management after the complaint

 

Many sexual harassment cases also involve retaliation when an employee reports misconduct and the employer responds by protecting the harasser, minimizing the complaint, blaming the employee, or pushing the employee out.

​

Failure to Investigate or Prevent Sexual Harassment

 

California employers must take reasonable steps to prevent workplace harassment and must respond appropriately when harassment is reported. An employer may violate the law by ignoring complaints, delaying an investigation, conducting a biased or incomplete investigation, failing to interview key witnesses, failing to preserve evidence, or allowing the harasser to continue working with or near the employee.

 

An employer’s response should be prompt, fair, and effective. When an employer fails to take complaints seriously, the employee may have claims not only for sexual harassment, but also for failure to prevent harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination.

 

What Compensation May Be Available?

 

Employees who experience sexual harassment may be entitled to recover damages, including:

• Lost wages and benefits

• Future lost income

• Emotional distress damages

• Medical or therapy-related expenses

• Out-of-pocket losses

• Attorneys’ fees and costs, where available

• Punitive damages in appropriate cases

 

The value of a sexual harassment case depends on the severity of the conduct, the employer’s response, the harm suffered, the available evidence, and whether the employee experienced retaliation or job loss.

 

Why Choose Stroman Employment Law?

 

At Stroman Employment Law, employees work directly with Cody Stroman, an experienced California employment attorney. Before representing employees, Cody represented employers at major national law firms. That background gives him insight into how companies investigate sexual harassment complaints, defend claims, and attempt to minimize liability.

 

Today, Cody uses that experience to advocate for California employees who have been sexually harassed, retaliated against, or wrongfully terminated.

 

Employees choose Stroman Employment Law because the firm offers:

​

• Direct attorney communication

• Strategic case evaluation

• Experience with both employee and employer-side litigation

• Clear guidance through a difficult process

• Strong advocacy for California workers

• A focused commitment to employment law

 

Speak With a California Sexual Harassment Attorney

 

If you believe you experienced unwanted sexual comments, advances, touching, messages, retaliation, or a hostile work environment, you may have a sexual harassment claim.

 

Contact Stroman Employment Law today for a free consultation with Cody Stroman, a California employment lawyer representing employees in San Francisco, the Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and throughout California.