How can Hostile Work Environment Harassment Lawyers Help?

Sexual harassment lawyers know that they can hold employers liable if they are able to prove that the company’s or public agency department’s supervisors had full knowledge of the harassment. For instance, often harassment occurs in front of managers who choose to remain mute. In many workplaces these incidents happen rampantly and in the open. If this is the case then legal counselors can argue that the employer knew about the harassment but failed to act and take appropriate measures to stop the harassment.

Secondly, employers are found guilty when they should have known about the pervasive problem of harassment in the company. This claim is usually made by sexual harassment attorneys when they can show that the managers have purposefully ignored complaints made by the employees. This means instead of initiating an enquiry they simply chose to ignore the problem.

When the employer fails to take immediate and effective measures to stop the harassment they can be held liable. This means the employer not only had knowledge of the harassment but did not take prompt and effective action to prevent the harasser or to stop the issue from recurring. For instance, if the employer sends the harasser for counseling but takes no disciplinary steps against the harasser then they are plainly not doing enough.

This is no different than what occurred in the film Shawshank Redemption. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) was being sexually harassed and targeted by Bogs Diamond and the other sodomites to no end. Warden Norton did nothing about this. He let Bogs do what Bogs and his terrible and twisted friends did. Captain Hadley allowed this to play out too. This should not happen in a prison and no type of sexual harassment should occur in the work place. Hadley eventually took care of Bogs but this came after Bogs and his sadistic friends were doing this for years. Your work place should not tolerate any sexual harassment for hours, not even minutes.

If you need legal help in this department, if your organization is not doing enough to combat this behavior that someone or some people share in your workplace, you need to click right here Sexual-Harassment-USAttorneys. You may not be a hero at first but that is a possibility in the long run. Someone needs to stand up to this.

Legal Requirements of Hostile Work Environment

To qualify as hostile work environment there are certain elements that must be present.

First, it is important to note that workplace discrimination based on age, sex, gender, race, nationality etc are prohibited under law. This is why the harassment must be directed against any of the above protected classifications to qualify as a hostile work environment.

Secondly, a passing comment made casually in the cafeteria is not harassment, even though such comments may be annoying to certain individuals. However, the comments or the conduct is pervasive i.e. they have been going on for a long time then this type of behavior construes sexual harassment. Though you can make a complaint after the first incident.

In addition, the actions must be severe. This means that the conduct has to be excessively obscene or gross and must impact the performance of the employee adversely.

When can employers be strictly liable?

Some courts believe that employers become strictly liable if the harasser is a senior staff member such as a supervisor or a manager. The reason behind the belief is that the supervisors and managers exert a certain amount of power on the junior staff. This power is provided to them by the employer and when they misuse this power the employer must share some responsibility.

Non-Direct Harassment

There are situations when a third party who is not the target of the harassment suffers an adverse employment action because of the harassment. Sexual harassment lawyers point out that this type of lawsuit is brought by someone who is denied a promotion because it went to an employee who allowed the harassment.

How does company policy impact liability in a lawsuit?

Courts evaluate company polices to determine if they are effective and whether they are implemented properly. If the court finds that the company has a marvelous anti-discriminatory policy, but had not enforced it then the company is liable.

Similarly, if the company is able to prove that the victim failed to take advantage of company policies to prevent the harassment then the employer can escape liability.

If you are harassed or discriminated against by a co-worker and your complaints are simply gathering dust at the HR, it is time to reach out and speak with a sexual harassment lawyer to explore ways you can pressurize your employer to act.