San Francisco Sexual Harassment Lawyers

San Francisco has some of the strictest harassment laws in the nation. These laws protect your right to fair treatment, equal benefits, and a workplace free from sexual misconduct.

Knowing Your Rights

San Francisco workers are protected from workplace sexual harassment under both state and federal law. The primary state law is the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), and it extends beyond federal protections like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. FEHA covers all forms of sexual harassment, including quid pro quo harassment and hostile work environment harassment. It also protects employees from discrimination based on protected categories.

If you have been sexually harassed on the job, you have the right to take action. The law protects you whether the offending conduct comes from a supervisor, a coworker, or even certain third parties like clients or vendors. Knowing what the law says – and what your employer is required to do – is the first step toward holding the right people accountable.

Key Rights Under FEHA

FEHA gives California workers strong protections against sexual harassment and discrimination at work:

• Protection from harassment – FEHAprohibits unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other unwanted verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. It also prohibits harassment based on gender, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation – all of which are forms of sex discrimination.
• Employer responsibility – Your employer has to take reasonable steps to prevent and promptly correct any sexual harassment. This means putting effective anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies in place, providing sexual harassment training, and conducting thorough investigations when complaints arise.
• Broad Coverage – FEHA’s protections cover misconduct by supervisors, coworkers, and even certain non-employees like clients or vendors. 
• No retaliation – You are protected from retaliation when you report sexual harassment or discrimination, participate in an investigation of sexual harassment or discrimination, or testify in a related proceeding. Retaliation is itself unlawful- and it often gives rise to its own legal action.

Forms of Sexual Harassment Under California Employment Law

Workplace sexual harassment usually falls into one of two categories. Employment law treats both as forms of sex discrimination. Both are illegal and both can support a civil claim against the employer, the harasser, or both. 

Quid pro quo harassment happens when someone with authority over your employment conditions a work benefit on sexual conduct. An example of this is conditioning  a promotion, raise, or better shifts if you go to dinner with them. Another example is e a supervisor or manager imposing work-related consequences if you refuse to go to dinner with them. Under civil rights law, employers are strictly liable when a supervisor engages in this conduct against employees.

Hostile work environment harassment occurs when behavior of a sexual nature is severe or pervasive enough to unreasonably interfere with an employee’s performance of their job duties. In some circumstances, a single negative incident can be enough to create a hostile work environment. But more often, it’s a pattern – repeated jokes, comments, or unwanted advances, that eventually create an intimidating or degrading hostile workplace.

What Sexual Harassment Looks Like in Practice

Workplace sexual harassment takes many forms. California law treats it as a form of sex discrimination. It can show up in situations like the ones below:

• Unwelcome advances
• Requests for sexual favors 
• Comments that make your skin crawl. 
• Physical contact you never consented to
• Texts at 11 p.m. that have nothing to do with the job
• Conduct aimed at someone because of their gender or sexual orientation

How Our San Francisco Sexual Harassment Attorneys Can Help

Filing a sexual harassment claim usually involves a few steps: report internally, file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and if those steps don’t fix the problem, pursue a lawsuit. California law gives workers tools at every stage. If the conduct is proven, the law allows recovery of lost wages, emotional distress damages, and in some cases punitive damages. There are no statutory caps on damages in employment discrimination cases.

When internal reporting goes nowhere, an experienced harassment attorney can size up your sexual harassment case, gather evidence, and make sure all requirements are met, including obtaining a Right to Sue notice from the CRD. The right harassment attorney pushes for outcomes that reflect what a victim has actually been through and what they deserve.

Talk to an Employment Lawyer at Matern Law Group Today

If you have been sexually harassed at work, you don’t have to figure this out alone. A San Francisco sexual harassment lawyer at Matern Law Group can help you understand your rights and your options. Our attorneys represent California employees in sexual harassment, sexual abuse, discrimination, and retaliation cases throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area. We’ve recovered substantial verdicts and settlements in employment cases up and down the state, and we work on contingency – no fee unless we win.

Reach out to our law firm for a free, confidential consultation. We’ll listen and walk you through your rights and options. And we’ll help you decide what comes next.