Employment Attorney

1- An anti-harassment policy

Having a written ***ual harassment prevention policy in place is not only a good measure for stopping ***ual harassment before it happens, but California employers are also required to have an anti-harassment policy and it must be in writing. See California Code of Regulations Section 11023  In California, employers who employ at least five employees must have a ***ual harassment policy regarding prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. The ***ual harassment policy must be in writing and a copy must be given to all employees. If you are experiencing ***ual harassment at work and your employer does not have a written ***ual harassment policy, contact a ***ual harassment attorney to provide guidance on how to address your concerns to your employer. 

 California ***ual harassment policies have to identify the classes of individuals and /or characteristics who are protected under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.  The protected classes include race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, genetic information, marital status, ***, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, ***ual orientation and military and/or veteran status. Anti-***ual harassment policies are designed to prevent harassment based on gender and ***.  More specifically, the ***ual harassment polices protect against unwanted ***ual advances or romantic pursuit, and other unwelcome conduct that is of a ***ual nature, including verbal comments, inappropriate touching, lewd gestures, and visuals, depiction of ***ual acts or ***ual content, including ***ual innuendo and/or words, lewd jokes and derogatory statements directed at an employee based on gender. 

The company’s anti-***ual harassment policies must advise the employees that it is against the law for a manager, supervisor, coworker or third party to harass, discriminate and/or retaliate against an employee.  

2- Follow The ***ual Harassment Complaint Process

 The ***ual harassment prevention policy must provide detailed instructions regarding the company’s complaint process so that the employee will know what steps to take to notify the company of the ***ual harassment, who the employee is permitted to contact to voice the complaint, what action the employer will take in response to the employee’s ***ual harassment complaint and what safeguards will be available to the employee to ensure protection from retaliation. 

Employees must be given the opportunity to raise their concerns regarding ***ual harassment to someone other than the immediate supervisor. This is especially important when the employee’s immediate supervisor is the one about whom the ***ual harassment complaint was made. The ***ual harassment policy should advise the employee he or she can complain to other management, Human Resources or another department that is set up to receive ***ual harassment complaints. The employee may submit a ***ual harassment complaint in person, verbally, by telephone, email, writing or other means of communication.  Some companies provide a hotline number the employee may call and leave a ***ual harassment complaint.  Although many ***ual harassment prevention policies require the employee to report ***ual harassment in writing, it is not required that the employee submit a written complaint in order to trigger the employer’s obligation to investigate and take appropriate action to prevent further ***ual harassment in the workplace.  In most instances verbally reporting the ***ual harassment to someone in management, human resources or to a designated department will be sufficient.  Of course, documenting a ***ual harassment complaint in writing will give the employee the benefit of ensuring the details of the complaint are clearly stated and preserved. If you are experiencing ***ual harassment in the workplace, you should contact a ***ual harassment attorney who may be able to provide you guidance regarding how to write the ***ual harassment complaint, what to include and to whom the ***ual harassment complaint should be directed.

3- Action and Response

Once an employee complaints of ***ual harassment or reports incidents of conduct that may be ***ual harassment in the workplace, the supervisor or manager receiving the complaint should immediately elevate the complaint to human resource or the appropriate department set up to receive and address ***ual harassment complaints.

Once an employee complaints of ***ual harassment or reports incidents of conduct that may be ***ual harassment in the workplace, the supervisor or manager receiving the complaint should immediately elevate the complaint to human resource or the appropriate department set up to receive and address ***ual harassment complaints.

4- Fair and Timely Investigation of ***ual Harassment Complaints     

A California employer’s ***ual harassment prevention policy must assure the employee that appropriates steps will be taken to promptly and fully investigate the ***ual harassment complaint in a confidential manner and without bias. A fair investigation would be to have an unbiased person, trained in ***ual harassment investigations,  interview all of the witnesses including the person who made the complaint.  The employee reporting ***ual harassment should expect to be interviewed by someone who is qualified to conduct ***ual harassment investigations. The investigation should include interviews of witnesses identified by the person reporting ***ual harassment and/or other witnesses. The ***ual harassment investigation process should ensure that all steps are taken to prevent retaliation against the person reporting ***ual harassment. The ***ual harassment prevention policy must expressly state that neither the person reporting ***ual harassment nor the individuals who participate in the ***ual harassment investigation will be subjected to retaliation by the employer or anyone else involved. The investigation would be unfair if it is turned on the person who complained of ***ual harassment by using the ***ual harassment investigation as a means of gathering information designed to attack the credibility and integrity of the ***ual harassment victim. It would be improper to take any other action to intimidate or discourage employees from reporting ***ual harassment or participating in a ***ual harassment investigation. This would be deemed retaliation and is unlawful. An individual who believes they have been retaliated against for reporting ***ual harassment or participating in a ***ual harassment investigation, should immediately contact a ***ual harassment attorney and document the incidents of retaliation.  

California employers must take appropriate corrective action if the investigation results in a finding of ***ual harassment. A victim of ***ual harassment cannot expect the employer to terminate the harasser. In fact, the employee reporting ***ual harassment may never know what action is taken by the employer so long as the employer takes affirmative steps to ensure the employee is protected from further incidents of ***ual harassment and retaliation. If you feel that your employer has not taken appropriate steps to prevent any further incidents of ***ual harassment or retaliation, you should immediately contact a ***ual harassment attorney.