What is sexual harassment in the workplace?
Workplace sexual harassment includes unwanted touching, unwanted comments, unwanted sexual advances that are made by either your supervisor, clients, co-workers, or anybody else in the workplace.
If you feel like somebody is trying to make your workplace uncomfortable by making certain comments about sex or making certain jokes about sex constantly, or if the employer makes certain workplace benefits available to employees based upon sex, or removes certain benefits based on not engaging in sex, those are all workplace sexual harassment issues that an attorney who is experienced in this law would be able to help you with.
It's broader than most people assume
Sexual harassment law doesn't require the harasser to be attracted to you or to be a different sex than you — same-sex harassment is covered the same way under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, which also protects against harassment based on gender identity and expression, not just sex in a narrow sense.
The video mentions clients and coworkers, and that matters — an employer's duty to keep the workplace free of harassment can extend to non-employees like customers or vendors, when the employer knows about the conduct and doesn't take reasonable steps to address it. California also generally requires many employers to maintain a written anti-harassment policy and a way for employees to complain.
What to do next
Report what's happening through whatever internal process exists, but keep your own copy of what you reported and when, rather than relying on the employer's file. An attorney can help you figure out whether to report internally first or go straight to a consultation.
More questions, answered.
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