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If you’ve been a victim of harassment and you succeed in a sexual harassment case, you can seek recovery for monetary damages or lost wages. Also, you may want your employer to rehire or reinstate you if you had a negative employment action taken because of your claim. You might additionally want your employer to change their current practices in order to prevent future sexual harassment incidents from occurring.

To report sexual harassment at work, you have several options, and you should review your employee manual to determine if you have a way you are meant to report it. Also, you can talk to your supervisor, Human Resources Department, or any person at your company who is designated to take such reports. It’s important to make sure they complete the formal process of the harassment reporting, such as putting your statement in writing and investigating the report.

Also, if the harassment continues, you may eventually file a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) or with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

If you are concerned about your position within the company, if the person harassing you is in a position of authority at work, or if you think retaliation could occur, it’s important to consult an employment attorney before you report the harassment in order to discuss possible first steps.

It is illegal for you to be fired in California for reporting workplace sexual harassment. Also, employers are prevented from retaliating against you for participating in an investigation. They cannot take any negative employment action against you for reporting the harassing behavior – including harassing, demoting, firing, or any other discriminatory action.

However, just because it is illegal to fire someone for reporting harassment, unfortunately, doesn’t mean it won’t happen. If you have reported harassment and then experienced a negative consequence at work, especially if you were fired from your job, it is critical to speak with an experienced employment attorney right away to protect your rights.

Your company should promptly and thoroughly investigate a complaint of sexual harassment. You have a right to work in a job that’s free from sexual harassment. Your employer must take prompt and sufficient steps after harassment has been reported to stop the offending behavior. Then, they have to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

If the harassment continues or if your employer doesn’t fully resolve the situation, you can then consider filing a formal complaint. An attorney can walk you through the entire process and can often help gather relevant evidence to include with your complaint. With an attorney’s help, you can pursue the justice you deserve, and they can maximize your recovery.

While you do not need specific proof to report workplace harassment, it can be hard to have your report taken seriously if you don’t have some form of proof. In that case, the accused could deny the harassing behavior, and then it could be your word against theirs.

Before you report sexual harassment, it’s helpful to gather relevant evidence to build a strong claim. You may have text messages, voicemails, emails, statements from witnesses, photographs, or other evidence of the harassment. Also, an attorney can help explore all possible relevant evidence for your claim and can help you preserve admissible evidence. Contact the experienced sexual harassment attorneys at Makarem & Associates to discuss relevant evidence further.