We Believe Every Worker Deserves a Respectful Workplace

Workplace sexual harassment can be intimidating, disheartening, and damaging to your career and income. If you have endured sexual harassment and discrimination at work and cannot take it anymore, then it is time to call Aizenman Law Group and our sexual harassment attorneys in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We proudly represent workers and employees from all walks of life and industries in the fight against sexual harassment. With a successful claim managed by our team, you can receive financial compensation for lost wages, reduced income capacity, emotional and mental anguish, and much more!

On This Page

• What is Sexual Harassment?
• When is an Employer Liable?
• What Behaviors are Considered Harassment?
• What to Do When Harassed at Work
• Filing a Complaint with the EEOC
• Benefits of a Successful Claim

What is Sexual Harassment?

You have the right to live and work without enduring humiliating comments about your body, inappropriate touching, or unwelcome sexual advances. There are two types of sexual harassment. The first is quid pro quo sexual harassment, meaning “this for that.” Quid pro quo harassment happens when a supervisor takes or threatens adverse employment action against you or refuses to promote you unless you provide sexual favors.

The second type of sexual harassment is hostile work environment. This occurs when the harassing conduct keeps happening and it is “intimidating, hostile or abusive.” In a hostile work environment claim, the harasser may not ask you for sexual favors, but may make continuous vulgar comments or touch you inappropriately without your consent.

When is an Employer Liable for Sexual Harassment?

Although workplace sexual harassment is often carried out by a single bad actor, filing a civil claim against just that person might be futile if they have no assets. An employer is clearly liable for sexual harassment in their workplace if the harassment is caused by a company owner or executive. An employer is also liable for workplace sexual harassment if they knew or reasonably should have known about the harassment but did not do anything to correct the situation. For example, your employer could be liable if your coworker repeatedly makes inappropriate jokes and your boss just tells you to shrug them off or to be less sensitive.

What Behaviors are Sexual Harassment?

Generally, sexual harassment is defined as any unwelcome sexually related behavior, such as:

• Crass jokes
• Gossip between coworkers
• Requests for romantic dates
• Offers for benefits in exchange for sexual acts

There must also be a repeated pattern or one egregious act for inappropriate behavior to be considered sexual harassment in most legal contexts. For example, a coworker is likely sexually harassing you if they ask you out on a date several times after you already told them you were not interested. But if the coworker asked you only once and respected your refusal, that would not be sexual harassment.

What to Do When Sexually Harassed at Work

Your harasser will likely deny your story to make it your word against theirs. Corroborating evidence of sexual harassment against you or others can prove your case and expose the harasser.

To collect evidence and improve your claim’s validity, you should do the following after being sexually harassed at work:

• Write a journal: Record all instances of sexual harassment in a written journal. Be sure to include the time and date when describing each event and any witnesses who were there.
• Save files and emails: You should back up any digital files, emails, and text conversations that include sexual harassment. Such files could be “lost” by your employer or the harasser later, so you need to be certain you have a copy of your own. Screenshot any text messages and back them up to the cloud or email them to yourself.
• Talk to trusted witnesses: Other people in your company might have stories similar to yours. Talk to trustworthy coworkers and witnesses to the harassment to better show that your harasser has a history of inappropriate workplace behavior. If you think the person will change their story later, record the conversation.
• Follow the policy: Report your story to your supervisor or your employer’s HR department if possible and follow their instructions. HR might begin an investigation into the harassment, which can help your claim. If someone from HR is your harasser, then this step might not be feasible and you will have to go to your employer directly. Record the conversation with your supervisor or HR if possible.
• Record Conversations: Audio recordings of eyewitnesses or an admission by the perpetrator can greatly increase the value of your sexual harassment claim. In Oklahoma, you are not required to disclose that you are recording to a party you are speaking with. If you feel comfortable, confront the perpetrator about his or her conduct and record the conversation. It is also important to record conversations with any witnesses to be sure that they do not change their story later.

Filing a Complaint with the EEOC

In most sexual harassment cases, you cannot file a civil claim or lawsuit against your employer until you have given the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) a chance to investigate your situation and intervene. Our Tulsa sexual harassment attorneys can help you contact the EEOC and fill out a report as required. You usually must file an EEOC complaint within 300 days of the last incident of harassment, but we suggest not waiting that long to take action. After the EEOC investigates your claim, we can move forward with your case.

Benefits of a Successful Claim

Filing a lawsuit for sexual harassment against your own employer can be understandably intimidating. You might even be discouraged by your coworkers from doing anything because it “risks your job.” Our legal team wants to remind you of the importance of filing a sexual harassment claim, and that your boss is not permitted to retaliate against you specifically for reporting such a serious workplace issue.

A successful sexual harassment claim can end with:

• Compensation: You can be provided financial compensation in various forms, including wages you lost because you felt compelled to quit an unsafe work environment and punitive damages used against the employer for allowing harassment to persist to the extent it did.
• Action: Your case may compel your employer to take action against the bad actors who have sexually harassed you, such as firing them. It could also result in your employer implementing further sexual harassment training programs.
• Protection: Perhaps most importantly, your action could be the first step in ending all sexual harassment in your workplace and protecting your coworkers and future employees from the same hardships you endured.

Call Our Firm Today to End Sexual Harassment

After being sexually harassed at work, you deserve fair compensation. Our aggressive sexual harassment attorneys know what it takes to bring a real fight in court.

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Get more information about our legal services and your options by contacting us online now.