It is illegal in Florida to subject a job applicant or employee to inappropriate sexual remarks, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or verbal or physical assaults of a sexual nature. Florida statutes and federal law define sexual harassment as a form of discrimination and prohibit employment discrimination based on sex, as well as on race, color, religion, national origin, age, handicap, marital status, sexual orientation, and other protected classes.
Sexual harassment in the workplace generally takes two forms, both of which are illegal:
- Quid pro quo harassment: Demanding sexual favors in return for employment, favorable assignments, promotion, increased pay, or other employment benefit.
- Hostile work environment: Creating or allowing unwelcome and offensive language, display of sexual images, or physical touching that is so severe or pervasive that it interferes with the individual’s work performance or creates a working environment that a reasonable person would find to be intimidating or offensive.
If you have experienced unlawful sexual harassment by a supervisor, co-worker, or client, you may be entitled to pursue a legal claim against your employer for the harm and losses you suffered due to their failure to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment. The Jacksonville sexual harassment attorneys with Cruz Law Firm, P.A., can help you file a sexual harassment claim and demand justice and financial accountability.
Reporting Sexual Harassment At Work
If you have been sexually harassed at your place of employment, you should follow any existing company policy for reporting the misconduct. Consult an employee manual or your human resources department. As you proceed, keep copies of everything connected to the case or write out and date notes about what has occurred.
To prepare a complaint:
- Voice your discomfort. Sexual harassment is conduct that is unwelcome. Not every crude joke or rude or unsophisticated attempt at flirting is harassment. However, single incidents of overt physical contact or egregious comments can be. Make it clear that the individual’s conduct is unwelcome unless you feel unsafe doing so. If the conduct continues, you may have a sexual harassment complaint.
- Collect evidence of the harassment, such as email, text messages, social media posts, photos, videos, or other offensive material distributed in your workplace. If you feel safe doing so, use your phone to photograph or record what goes on.
- Write out your formal complaint. Be as specific as possible – name perpetrators and witnesses, places and dates, what was said or done, and attempts you have made to get the harasser to stop.
- File a complaint according to company policy to your supervisor or a human resources representative.
If anyone challenges your attempt to file a complaint or takes steps to punish you, you should consult a sexual harassment lawyer immediately. If you feel unsafe or have reason to believe your employer won’t respond appropriately to your complaint, consult a lawyer before moving forward.
Contact Cruz Law for a confidential consultation with a sexual harassment attorney in Jacksonville, Florida. Our attorneys understand state and federal law pertaining to sexual harassment. Our legal team has taken more than 100 workplace sexual harassment and discrimination cases to trial. Sometimes, just hearing from a discrimination lawyer will make an employer change their ways. We can also help you file a claim with state and federal authorities and follow up with a lawsuit seeking compensation.
Legal Actions Available After Being Sexually Harassed at Work
If your employer does not respond appropriately to your complaint about sexual harassment in the workplace or hostile work environment harassment, you may file a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations and with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. If the EEOC decides there is reasonable cause to believe that discrimination has occurred, it will try to mediate a settlement, which may require the company to commit to change and make a payment to you.
If you cannot accept the settlement proposed in mediation, the agency will issue a Notice of Right to Sue. Then you’ll have 90 days to file a lawsuit seeking to stop sexual harassment. A lawsuit may demand damages for your:
- Lost wages you would have earned if you had not been terminated or otherwise left employment
- Wages lost while your harassment claim was being litigated
- Job search costs
- Medical expenses, for counseling and medication
- Mental anguish
- Loss of reputation
- Injunctive relief,such as being reinstated in your job with full pay
- Punitive damages that punish your employer for intentionally creating or recklessly fostering a workplace culture of sexual harassment and that serves as notice to others.
For a sexual discrimination lawsuit to be successful, your attorney will need to demonstrate that:
- You received unwanted sexual requests or advances and agreeing to requested sexual favors was a condition of receiving job benefits, or refusing sexual advances caused you to suffer an adverse employment action, or
- Continual sexual requests, comments, physical conduct, or other offensive conduct created an environment that kept you from doing your job properly, affected your job performance, or made you suffer harassment or feel continually intimidated or offended
- The discrimination was directed at you and has been offensive and severe
- The discrimination was not an isolated incident, or simply annoying behavior .
- Your employer knew or should have known that inappropriate activity considered sexual harassment was occurring and the employment failed to take reasonable steps to stop the harassment.
Talk to Our Jacksonville Sexual Harassment Lawyers
If you are facing sexual harassment on the job, you may have the right to hold your employer accountable for the illegal activity they have allowed. A Jacksonville employment lawyer with Cruz Law Firm in Jacksonville, FL, can help you hold your employer accountable for workplace harassment. Our law office handles employment law matters including sexual harassment cases. We can help you file an EEOC claim and a lawsuit seeking redress that includes compensation.
Call Cruz Law Firm at (850) 755-9856 today for a free consultation about your legal rights and how we can provide the personal support and legal assistance you need if you are being sexually harassed or facing a hostile work environment.