San Diego Sexual Harassment Lawyer
San Diego Sexual Harassment Attorney
Sexual harassment is an unfortunate, persistent problem throughout US workplaces. People working in every industry and in every type of workplace can potentially face sexual harassment, and this behavior can be degrading, dehumanizing, traumatic, and in extreme cases even physically damaging.
Sexual harassment can interfere with your ability to do your job and put forth your best work. It can also prevent you from excelling at advancing your career, and it can eventually cause you to dread coming into work each day.
Helping San Diego Clients With Their Sexual Harassment Claims
The attorneys at Diefer Law Group have years of experience representing San Diego area clients in a wide range of employment cases, including those arising from sexual harassment. Whether you have experienced an isolated incident or have endured prolonged sexual harassment of any kind in your workplace, you have the right to seek accountability and compensation for any losses you sustained. We can help you make this happen by guiding you through your sexual harassment case and all the complex legal mechanisms you must address to ensure accountability for the sexual harassment you suffered.
Defining Sexual Harassment in San Diego, CA
One of the most challenging aspects of a sexual harassment case can be identifying the proof you will need to produce to establish fault for your experiences. Many people experience sexual harassment with little to no physical evidence, devolving many such cases into one party’s word against another’s. Knowing the various types of sexual harassment is the first step in preventing such behavior from negatively impacting your work and your well-being, but you must also know the steps you must take if this behavior persists.
A few of the most common examples of sexual harassment cited in San Diego workplaces are:
- Quid pro quo. This phrase defines any incident in which a manager or supervisor offers a subordinate employee job-related perks or benefits in exchange for sexual favors. Alternatively, it can also apply to demands for sexual favors made under threat of job-related penalties, such as demotion or termination. If your supervisor has made any such demands or requests, you should speak with a San Diego sexual harassment attorney as soon as possible.
- Unwanted sexual advances in the workplace. While it’s possible for romantic interpersonal relationships to develop in some workplaces, it is unacceptable for any unwanted sexual advances to continue after the victim has asked for them to stop.
- Sexual comments, jokes, and other remarks that create an unwelcoming or abusive work environment. If you have been subjected to this sort of talk and asked for it to stop, you have the right to explore legal recourse if the behavior has not stopped and/or your employer has done nothing to stop it.
- Sexual assault. Unfortunately, sexual harassment sometimes escalates to the level of physical touching and sexual battery. Any employer or coworker who engages in this level of sexual harassment faces criminal prosecution alongside their civil liabilities to the victim. Sexual assault of any kind can lead to heavy fines, jail time, and a requirement to register as a sex offender, possibly for life.
This is not an exhaustive list of all the ways that sexual harassment might manifest in a San Diego workplace. Your employer has a legal duty to enforce anti-harassment rules in your workplace, create an internal conflict resolution system for handling harassment issues effectively, and to take appropriate action to prevent further incidents from occurring. Unfortunately, some victims of sexual harassment are not only unable to rely on their employers to fulfill these obligations but are subjected to abuse directly from their employers.
If you are unsure whether a recent experience constitutes sexual harassment, or if you have reported sexual harassment to your supervisor and they have taken no steps to correct the issue internally, you should speak with a San Diego sexual harassment attorney as soon as possible and prepare for a complex series of legal proceedings. Regardless of whether a supervisor, a coworker, or a third party not directly employed at your workplace harassed you, your attorney can help you understand the best first steps to take toward addressing your case as effectively as possible.
How to File a Sexual Harassment Claim in San Diego, CA
Damages Available in San Diego Workplace Sexual Harassment Claims
When you choose Diefer Law Group to represent your sexual harassment case in San Diego, our goal is to guide you through the various stages of your case with confidence and efficiency, ultimately helping you secure the maximum amount of compensation possible for your damages. Many people who experience sexual harassment are forced to quit their jobs or suffer adverse treatment from their employers that diminishes their earning capacity.
It’s common for victims of sexual harassment to mistakenly believe that they could not secure enough compensation to make filing their claims worth the effort, but this isn’t necessarily true in many cases. It’s possible that you have grounds to claim more compensation than you realize at first, and the right San Diego sexual harassment attorney can help you maximize the results of your efforts.
Our team can potentially help you recover damages, including:
- Lost pay and benefits. If you were fired, forced to quit, or denied advancement on the basis of sexual harassment or your refusal to comply with requests or demands for sexual favors from your employer, you have the right to seek repayment of all the financial losses this caused. Your San Diego sexual harassment attorney can assist you in calculating the income and benefits you should have earned had the harassment not occurred.
- Job search expenses. If you lost your job or were forced to quit due to sexual harassment, you can hold the defendant accountable for expenses related to finding new work, including transportation costs to and from interviews, new job training, and fees for temp placement services and recruiting services.
- Medical expenses. When a sexual harassment case involves any form of physical abuse, you have the right to seek compensation for any and all medical expenses you suffered due to the defendant’s actions. Similarly, if you lost your employer-provided health care coverage due to sexual harassment, you could hold the defendant accountable for your increased health care expenses due to your unjust loss of benefits.
- Pain and suffering. Sexual harassment can be mentally distressing, humiliating, and dehumanizing. You have the right to seek compensation for the physical pain you endured as well as the defendant’s intentional infliction of emotional distress. Your San Diego sexual harassment attorney is the best asset to have for maximizing this aspect of your recovery.
Depending on the scope and severity of the defendant’s behavior, it is also possible for a plaintiff in a sexual harassment case to recover compensatory and/or punitive damages to reflect the defendant’s illegal behavior. Ultimately, many variables can influence the total compensation a victim receives for their successful sexual harassment suit. Every plaintiff will face a different series of challenges and different opportunities when it comes to maximizing their case award.
One constant for every sexual harassment plaintiff is the value of legal representation that only an experienced San Diego sexual harassment attorney can provide. When you choose Diefer Law Group to handle your sexual harassment case, we will leverage our vast professional experience to help you uncover every available channel of compensation. We can also ensure that any pain and suffering compensation you receive accurately reflects the severity of your experience and that you are awarded appropriate compensatory and punitive damages as appropriate under state and federal sexual harassment laws.
What to Expect From Your San Diego Sexual Harassment Attorney
When you choose Diefer Law Group as your legal counsel for a sexual harassment case in San Diego, we will immediately get to work helping you gather all evidence needed to substantiate your claim. An EEOC complaint is likely to be your first step toward recovery, and we can guide you through this process as efficiently as possible. We have years of experience guiding our clients through the EEOC claim filing process. We know what EEOC investigators look for in sexual harassment complaints and the issues claimants often face when it comes to proving the truth of their experiences.
Filing your EEOC claim will be much easier with an experienced legal team representing you, and Diefer Law Group will uncover any evidence you will need to substantiate your claim. This may entail interviews with your coworkers and former employees of your workplace that have had similar experiences of sexual harassment. Your legal team can also consult with any medical care professionals who attended to injuries and illness sustained from sexual abuse. You can rely on Diefer Law Group to guide you through any necessary interactions with EEOC investigators until you receive a determination for your claim.
Once the EEOC completes its investigation and you have received a Notice of Right to Sue, you can proceed with a civil claim against the defendant responsible for the harassment you experienced. Most of these cases end in private settlement negotiations, and our team will help you maximize the offer from the defendant however possible. In the event that settlement is not an option, and you must resolve your sexual harassment case in court, our team will guide you through these proceedings and streamline litigation as much as we possibly can.
Diefer Law Group takes a client-focused approach to sexual harassment counsel. We know how damaging and expensive the effects of sexual harassment can be on any victim and their family, and our goal is always to streamline client recovery as much as we possibly can in every case we accept. The sooner you secure our firm’s representation, the sooner we can guide you toward a positive resolution to your claim.
FAQs
Q: How Do I Know if I Have Grounds for a Sexual Harassment Claim?
A: Unfortunately, many people endure sexual harassment far longer than they should, either out of fear of losing their jobs if they speak out or due to lack of awareness of the laws in place to protect against this behavior. If you are unsure whether you have grounds to file a sexual harassment complaint to the EEOC, you should speak with an experienced San Diego sexual harassment attorney as soon as possible.
Q: How Do I Prove Sexual Harassment in San Diego?
A: One of the biggest challenges in many sexual harassment cases is proving the truth behind an accusation of harassment. Many cases appear to begin as one party’s word against another’s and locating evidence for your claim can seem incredibly difficult at first. Proving sexual harassment may entail producing correspondence between you and your abuser, statements from coworkers and former employees who have had similar experiences or who witnessed the harassment you endured, and physical evidence if you suffered any form of sexual assault.
Q: How Long Does It Take to Resolve a Sexual Harassment Claim?
A: The EEOC can typically complete its investigation of your sexual harassment complaint within 180 days. Once it is proven that your employer is liable for the harassment you experienced, they should seek to settle your case as quickly as possible, and your San Diego sexual harassment attorney can guide you through your settlement negotiations. If a sexual harassment case escalates to litigation, it can take several months to resolve. Your San Diego sexual harassment attorney can offer an estimate of your case’s most likely timetable.
Q: How Much Does It Cost to Hire a San Diego Sexual Harassment Attorney?
A: Diefer Law Group accepts employment law cases on a contingency fee basis. This ensures our representation is accessible to those who need it most, regardless of their financial situation. With this billing arrangement, you pay nothing up front and no ongoing fees throughout your case. Instead, our firm will take a percentage of your final case award once we win your case. However, if our firm is unable to secure compensation on your behalf for any reason, you pay nothing. This ensures there is no financial risk to you by hiring our firm to represent your case.
Q: How Much Compensation Can I Win in My Sexual Harassment Claim?
A: It’s natural to wonder how much of a recovery you should expect if you win your sexual harassment case. The total potential value of your damages depends on the scope of the economic losses you suffered and many other variables. It’s possible to hold the defendant accountable for lost income, the cost of new job training, and attorneys’ fees, but you can also secure compensation for the pain and suffering you endured. Your San Diego sexual harassment attorney is the best resource to consult if you are wondering how much your claim could be worth.
Get a Free Consultation with a San Diego Workplace Sexual Harassment Attorney
Diefer Law Group understands how distressing and damaging any incident of sexual harassment can be, and our goal in every case we accept is to help our client approach their case proceedings with confidence and peace of mind. If you believe you have grounds for filing a sexual harassment case, we can review the details of your situation and let you know how our firm can assist in your legal efforts. Contact Diefer Law Group today and schedule your free consultation with a San Diego sexual harassment attorney you can trust.
San Diego, CA Workplace Sexual Harassment Resources
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