Articles Posted in Sexual Harassment

Because sexual harassment actions are inherently intertwined with issues of sex and sexuality and almost always involve a worker who was victimized in a highly intimate way, a victim may feel torn between pursuing justice and protecting her privacy. Fortunately, though, there may be an option for those who have endured workplace sexual harassment to both hold accountable those responsible and safeguard her privacy. Doing so may require the deployment of a unique set of civil litigation tools, which is why you should make sure you have an experienced New York City sexual harassment lawyer handling your case.

A sexual harassment case making its way through the New York courts right now is an example of this. The worker who suffered the alleged harassment was, at the time, a 22-year-old woman who had just graduated college and had never before held a professional job when she started working in the marketing department of a business and finance publisher in September.

According to the complaint, the woman’s direct supervisor began harassing her just a few weeks into her employment by making unwanted advances. By January, the harassment had allegedly escalated to unwanted touching and inappropriate emails and messages. By February, the harassment escalated to drugging and raping the woman, with a second rape occurring one month later, according to the lawsuit.

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Few workplace relationships will impact your job more than your relationship with your immediate supervisor, which is why few situations are more intimidating and stressful than when your supervisor sexually harasses you. It is for this reason that the law erects a special rule of employer liability for situations where your harasser was also your supervisor. With a skilled New York City sexual harassment lawyer on your side, your supervisor sexual harassment case may allow you to recover substantial compensation.

Of course, workplace roles are often fluid and your supervisor last year may not be the same person as your supervisor this year. So, you may wonder, what happens if my harasser was my former supervisor? A recent sexual harassment case from here in New York City looked directly at that question.

In that lawsuit, the alleged victim of harassment was S.D., a “black female of African national origin” who began working for a college in New York City in 2005. In 2014, while working on her Master’s thesis, S.D. sought the assistance of C.A., a professor in the college’s Africana Studies department.

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Statistical research has clearly shown that sexual harassment is widespread in the restaurant and foodservice industry. Of all Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims, more than one-third (37%) are claims submitted by restaurant workers. Certainly, one of the factors fueling that number is the financial insecurity many food service workers live with, but don’t let that stop you from speaking up if you’ve been harmed by sexual harassment. Instead, reach out to a knowledgeable New York City sexual harassment lawyer today and find out what legal steps you may be able to take.

M.W. was a food service worker who, according to his lawsuit, endured some very demeaning and terrible forms of sexual harassment during his time working at the Freedom Tower in Manhattan. The Brooklyn man alleged that the perpetrator of his sexual harassment was his supervisor.

Sexual harassment can occur in multiple forms, including unwelcome touching and inappropriate comments or jokes. M.W. allegedly endured both forms of harassment.

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Everyone in New York has the right to earn a living and to do their jobs without their workplace fates controlled by what they will or won’t do sexually for their bosses. If you’ve had your pay, your rank, your hours, your assignments, or your continued employment made conditional on the provision of something sexual, then that very possibly is illegal sexual harassment and you may be entitled to recover substantial compensation as a result. To find out the range of legal options that exist for you, reach out to a knowledgeable New York sexual harassment lawyer right away.

“Quid pro quo” sexual harassment, at its center, is rooted in power dynamics. One person, recognizing that he/she holds a position of great power and influence generally or, at least, greater power and influence than another worker, wields that influence (or threatens to use it) to extract sex from the less-powerful party. That less-powerful person perhaps acquiesces because they fear the economic ramifications of losing their job and/or being “blackballed” from getting another job. In other words, they acquiesce because they feel powerless.

The allegations made in a recent sexual harassment complaint from upstate make for a classic example of “quid pro quo” harassment. According to the alleged victim, who was a secretary for a trial court judge, the harassment began almost as soon as the judge took office, and went on for years.

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27 years ago, the box office blockbuster film Disclosure debuted in theaters. The Demi Moore-Michael Douglas film shone a light on a topic rarely highlighted in a big-budget Hollywood movie: workplace sexual harassment. All sexual harassment is a cancer upon the workplace, but quid pro quo sexual harassment, which was the type featured in Disclosure, is a particularly problematic thing. It places a worker under pressure to provide sex due to that party’s inferior power in the workplace (vis-a-vis the harasser) and the party’s fear of workplace reprisals (up to and including termination.) It is something no worker should have to tolerate and, if it happens to you, waste no time in taking action, including getting in touch with an experienced New York sexual harassment lawyer.

Of course, quid pro quo sexual harassment takes more forms than just what was described above. In some scenarios, the harasser, rather than threatening to punish a refusal, instead offers to use his power for your benefit if you provide sex. Offers like “I’ll make sure you get that promotion if you’ll agree to start dating me” or comments like “you could go far in this industry, and I can help make it happen if you would just ‘play ball’” are examples of this.

The recent case of an upstate New York bartender is a real-life illustration of that kind of alleged quid pro quo harassment. J.K., a bartender at a club in Hudson, sought out his supervisor to discuss possibly doing extra work and making “a little bit more money.” According to the lawsuit, the supervisor, who knew the bartender was gay, replied that he used to sleep with his manager to get shifts he wanted. The man then allegedly asked J.K. if he wanted better shifts, whereupon he spun around in his swivel chair and turned toward the bartender with his legs spread open.