Individuals can be a victim of discrimination to a various number of factors, including sex. Similarly to any type of discrimination in a workplace, sexual harassment is serious and illegal misconduct.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces the federal law and is responsible for employment rights by protecting it from all discriminatory matters. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The Supreme Court’s interpretation of Title VII in the 1980s further included discrimination based on “sex” as sexual harassment in the workplace. Additionally, Title VII protection covers the full spectrum of employment decisions, including:
- Recruitment
- Selections
- Terminations
- Other decisions concerning terms and conditions of employment
In accordance with Title VII, “sex” discrimination prohibits sexual assault in a workplace in most states. However, some states explicitly include the prohibition of sexual assault in their employment discrimination laws.
What Is Defined As Sexual Harassment?
Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination in accordance with Title VII. Sexual harassment can be defined as an unlawful act of harassing a person (an applicant or employee) on the basis of the victim’s sex. Harassment may include “sexual harassment” and can occur in several forms such as unwelcome sexual advances, verbal or physical harassment of sexual nature, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, etc. However, actions that are sexual can also be regarded as harassment. For instance, offensive sexual comments made to an individual can be considered illegal harassment. The definition of sexual harassment can be applied to all genders. This means that either a man or a woman can be the victim or the harasser. In some cases, the sexual harasser can also be of the same sex.
Over 70 percent of people that have experienced or witness sexual harassment in a workplace do not report it. This huge percentage can be due to a lot of reasons, such as the ambiguity of where the line is drawn for inappropriate behavior.
The law often draws a line between slight banter from serious harassment when the act;
- Creates hostility in a workplace environment
- Is inappropriate or offensive
- Results in a negative impact on employment decisions, such as getting fire or being demoted
How Can I Tell If My Employer Is Sexually Harassing Me?
Sexual Harassment can occur under several circumstances. When we think of harassment, we often think of physically touching unwanted areas, rape, or making explicit sexual comments. However, in most cases, sexual harassment that occurs in a workplace can be very subtle. For example;
- Asking about employee’s sex life
- Subtle unwanted touching (a hug, a hand on the back)
- Giving repeating compliments on an employee’s appearance
- Sending non-work related and personal emails or text
Any of these actions can be subjective depending on the victim’s personal experience. However, any of these actions can be deemed as sexual harassment if it is enough for a person to feel uncomfortable, intimidated, or interferes with their work.
What Is The Statute of Limitations For Filing a Sexual Harassment Claim?
The statute of limitations is legally set deadlines to file a lawsuit. Once the deadline has passed, individuals will risk losing the right to file that claim in court. This also applies to filing sexual harassment and sex discrimination claims. Individuals that are filing sexual discrimination complaints are required to file to the EOCC within 180 days of the alleged incident. However, claims that are covered by local laws will have an extended deadline of 300 days to file the claim. It is highly encouraged for claims to be filed as soon as possible and be very mindful of the time limit. Doing so will best preserve the EEOC’s ability to protect your rights.
How To File a Sexual Harassment Complaint
In California, a person can file a complaint to the DFEH if they believe they have been discriminated against under Title VII. Individuals should first start by gathering information that will be used later in the investigation process. Some information that can be used includes;
- Written facts or records of the incident which may include the name, contact, position of the person or organization that have discriminated towards them
- Any documents and evidence that are relevant relating to the complaint
- The name and contact of any possible witness
For employment cases that are filed through DFEH, individuals will need to obtain a Right-to-sue notice before filing the claim in court. In some cases, individuals may choose to pursue their own lawsuits. In that case, individuals can obtain an immediate Right-to-sue notice. Once the notice has been obtained DFEH will investigate the claim in accordance with civil rights laws. It is important to note that DFEH may only enforce cases that are in direct violation of civil rights laws. Otherwise, complaints that are indirect of the law DFEH enforces have the possibility of being denied and further investigation will not take place.
If the complaint is covered by the law, DFEH will prepare the complaint containing the petitioner’s signature and will be delivered to the respondent. Once the respondent responds to the complaint, DFEH will then review the complaint with the individual. After the review, DFEH is required by law to provide a dispute resolution to the parties.
Generally, there are two outcomes from this process. The complaint is resolved through the dissolution process and the case is closed through settlement. Otherwise, DFEH proceeds to determine whether there is a reasonable cause to the complaint. If there is a reasonable cause, the parties will be notified and the lawsuit will be filed in court.
Sexual Harassment Compensation & Damages
Several damages are available to victims of sexual harassment.
Back Pay
Victims of sexual harassment that may have been denied a raise, fired, or faced any employment decisions that had an impact on their benefit rights, may be entitled to back pay. Back pay covers the lost pay or benefits individuals would’ve received if they were treated according to regular employment standards. Lost benefits can be compensated since the time of unfair employment conduct. Typically, federal law limits back pay to two years from the time the lawsuit is filed. However, some state laws may extend the period in which back pay can be made. Back pay may include, but not limited, to several things such as wages, promotions, health insurance, pension benefits, etc.
Front Pay
Front pay compensates the right of employment back to the victim. This means that if a person had to quit or was terminated as a consequence of the sexual harassment, the person will be entitled to return back to their former position. This remedy is uncommon because oftentimes it can be impossible or impractical. Individuals may be unwilling to return to their former position because the workplace has become too hostile to work in. In such cases, front pay may compensate and cover for the wages that the individual has lost from the time of the incident to the future. Courts use factors such as age, duration to find a similar job, and duration at the previous job to determine how far the individual may receive front pay in the future.
Compensatory and Punitive Damages
Compensatory damages are awarded to individuals for any pain, suffering, harm, reputation, out-of-pocket expenses caused by the harassment. On the other hand, punitive damages are awarded to individuals to deter the harasser’s bad behavior. Typically, punitive damages are given to cases where employers are aware of the harassment but fail to take necessary action to correct the situation. Federal law places damage caps on compensatory and punitive damages. Generally, the size of the business will reflect on the damage cap. For instance, the damage cap for is different employers is as follows;
- For employers with 15-100 employees, the limit is $50,000
- For employers with 101-200 employees, the limit is $100,000
- For employers with 201-500 employees, the limit is $200,000
- For employers with more than 500 employees, the limit is $300,000
Contact Pride Legal
If you or a loved one has been a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace, we invite you to contact us at Pride Legal for legal counseling or any further questions. To protect your rights, hire someone who understands them.
