As the #MeToo movement has shown, victims of sexual harassment abound. If you have been a victim of sexual harassment in California, whether or not it has resulted in civil charges for violations of employment laws, the experienced, empathic sexual harassment litigation lawyer of Compass Law Group is fully prepared to file a civil lawsuit for personal injury on your behalf.
Why Compass Law Group Is the Place to Call
We are well-aware of how traumatizing sexual harassment can be, whether or not it escalates to assault, and equally aware of how healing and empowering a successful lawsuit against the offender can be. Our attorneys have outstanding credentials, impeccable reputations, and a history of positive outcomes.
What is sexual harassment?
Generally, there are two forms of sexual harassment, quid pro quo and hostile work environment:
- Quid pro quo harassment in which one person attempts to force the other to submit to sexual demands, or put up with sexual overtures, in exchange for improved working conditions, a raise, a better academic grade, or another “favor.” In some cases quid pro quo sexual harassment involves a threat that the victim will suffer demotion, termination of employment, suspension, or a lower grade if she/he doesn’t comply.
- Hostile work environment that may be characterized by wolf whistles, remarks with sexual innuendos, displays of inappropriate pictures or cartoons, and progress to unwanted sexual touching, embraces, stroking, kissing, or discomforting pats. Constant inquiries or revelations about dating habits or erotic experience, or repeated invitations that are rebuffed, may also constitute sexual harassment.
It may surprise you to know that most sexual harassment is not a type of sexual advance, but rather a form of discrimination against a particular individual, focusing on the person’s gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. In some ways, this form of sexual harassment is the most cruel, disparaging one’s sexual identity, and physical and emotional characteristics, through written or verbal sexual language, illustration, or mimicry.
Sexual harassment involves sexual words, images, and actions that attack the very core of the victim’s being. Whether such behavior targets men, women, gays, bisexuals, transgender individuals, or asexual people, it is not only nasty, demeaning, and discriminatory — it is against federal and state law. All forms of sexual harassment, for example, violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For all of these reasons, Compass Law Group takes sexual harassment extremely seriously.
It is important to be aware that unwanted sexual overtures may at first seem to be harmless flirtations, but often cross the blurred boundaries into more intrusive, or even eventually violent, advances. One of the most troubling things about being sexually harassed is that the victim may not know precisely when the disturbing behavior became so deeply offensive and painful.
What We Can Do to Help You Regain Your Sense of Wholeness and Worth
When you come to us for an initial consultation to determine whether or not you have a viable civil case, we will clarify the elements that must be present to create what courts define as “an abusive working environment,” such that the attention must be unwelcome and not part of a consensual relationship. Also, in most cases, sexual harassment must have been ongoing and pervasive in order for us to file a suit. Under some circumstances, however, one particularly heinous act may be enough to qualify you to receive damages.
Once you become our client, our skilled sexual harassment attorneys will take the following steps to compile data relevant to your case:
- Listen carefully and patiently to the uncomfortable details of what you have been through
- Investigate your claim and try to substantiate it through any existing written or graphic materials, recordings, or witness accounts
- Check into complaints you have made to superiors and what action, if any, was taken
- File a lawsuit against the offender who committed, and/or the company or institution that tolerated (or even encouraged), the abuse.
Filing a personal injury lawsuit for sexual harassment is a complicated business since it does not normally involve the physical injury or medical costs of, for example, a car accident. The harm done by sexual harassment affects the mind, a less tangible part of a human being, though no less capable of experiencing pain. The sharp attorneys at Compass Law Group know a number of legal strategies that will work in such cases, and we will fight hard to win you the compensation you need to recover from your ordeal
What makes sexual harassment so painful?
Except in cases that occur as catcalls on the street, most instances of sexual harassment, certainly those that end up in litigation, are personal, perpetrated by a known, and often previously trusted, figure. Sexual harassment is painful precisely because it occurs in a setting that was, in most cases, assumed to be a safe haven:
- Your workplace/ especially your superior’s office
- Your college professor’s office
- Your therapist’s office
- Your doctor’s examining room
The stronger the apparent bonds of the relationship between the victim and the harasser, the more likely the emotional anguish is to be prolonged and resistant to repair. The closer or more pleasant previous encounters between the offender and the victim have been, the more vulnerable the victim will be to experiencing guilt, feeling that he/she provoked the disturbing behavior. The more it can be claimed that a relationship of any sort existed between the two, the more likely the victim is to worry about having too outgoing, alluring, or acquiescent. In such cases, the victim suffers guilt in addition to embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, fear, and anger.
In extreme cases, the guilt, shame, and concomitant self-loathing suffered by victims of sexual harassment is enough to result in withdrawal from social connections, inability to work, sexual dysfunction, and even suicidal ideation. This is where Compass Law Group comes in. We have the knowledge of sexual harassment law and the litigation skill set required to fight vigorously to see that you receive the compensation you deserve.
Damages We Will Fight to Obtain for You
As long as we can prove that you were [1] exposed to outrageous sexually harassing behavior [2] that such behavior was intended to cause distress or trauma or that the perpetrator acted with reckless disregard of the fact that the behavior would cause distress or trauma and [3] that the defendant’s behavior did cause severe emotional distress or trauma, we can sue for substantial damages under federal and state laws. We will ask for damages to compensate you for
- Emotional pain and mental anguish (e.g. anxiety, inability to concentrate, shame, guilt)
- Symptoms of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
- Loss of income
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Costs of psychotherapy
- Costs of any necessary prescribed medications
Contact Us Today
At Compass Law Group, we understand that the damage done to you, though intangible, is very real, and may alter the course of your life going forward. We will work hard to see that you have the funds to assist you in regaining your emotional stability and your capacity for enjoyment.
Contact our Los Angeles sexual harassment litigation attorney today for a free, initial consultation.
This list isn’t all-inclusive many personal injury suits have been raised based on different factors that aren’t included above. Our team of Los Angeles car accident attorneys can work on cases without anything out of pocket.
We’re old enough to have the necessary experience, yet young enough to use the most cutting-edge technology and tactics, and are determined enough to fight and outsmart the other side, every time.
