Best Ohio Sexual Harassment Attorney Answer: What should I do if my boss is touching and grabbing me? Can I be demoted or transferred for refusing to have sex with my boss? Does my employer have the right to fire me for reporting sexual harassment? How do I find the best gender discrimination lawyer in Ohio?
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Ohio’s similar gender discrimination laws make it unlawful for managers or supervisors to engage in sexually harassing conduct or to allow such conduct to occur by non-management level employees after learning about it. These same laws further make it unlawful for your job to retaliate against you for reporting, opposing, or participating in an investigation into sexual harassment. Under these laws, retaliation means any adverse conduct against the reporting employee, which includes, but is not limited to firing, demoting, harassing, or reducing pay.
Many victims of sexual harassment face adverse employment decisions after reporting the actions of a boss or supervisor to a higher authority. Our employment discrimination lawyers recently addressed on example of sexual harassment in this blog. However, because of the seriousness of sexual harassment, it is always a good to circle back to this topic with more examples.
In this case, Elisa Shulda was headed home from work to breastfed her son when her boss, Joe Taffe, grabbed her breasts and said “they feel fine to me.” Later on the same day, Taffe grabbed the buttocks of another female employee, Gail Rakitnich at a work bowling party. Both women debated on staying quiet to save their jobs, but decided to come forward to report their boss’s harassment. They came forward to report the harassment after Taffe said he “should kill” Shulda. They also came forward when they became victims of negative employment decisions. After reporting the sexually harassing conduct, both women were transferred to other positions, had job duties taken away from them and eventually fired from their jobs at the Clatskanie Public Utility District.
Sexual harassment is not a thing of the past. Both men and women silently face sexual harassment at work on a daily basis. Many fail to report sexual harassment due to fears of losing their jobs, but often lose their jobs regardless of how hard they try to ignore the harassment. Sexual harassment can consist of unwanted sexual conduct, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment does not have to be sexual in nature; it can include offensive remarks about a person’s sex.
Reporting sexual harassment by a boss or employer can be difficult for an employee because of fears of losing their jobs or being isolated from their co-workers. Shulda and Rakitnich cases, however, show that sexual harassment in the work place can be pervasive and harm more than one employee. Shulda and Rakitnich were not alone. Four other women filed sexual harassment lawsuits against the Clatskanie Public Utility Department for sexual harassment after them and won a $1.3 million judgment against the public utility department. Shulda says of her decision, “I always knew speaking up was the right thing to do, but it was a hard choice.” Women should never have to face this choice. But, when you do, having the support of experienced sexual harassment lawyers standing behind you is critical. It is important to know that you do not have to wait until you are fired to call sexual harassment attorney.
Sexual harassment is unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and similar Ohio laws. Sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination. If you feel that you are being sexually harassed or are working in a sexually charged or hostile working environment, you should not wait to call the right attorney at 866-797-6040 to schedule a free and confidential consultation. At Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm, you will meet with a sexual harassment lawyer/hostile work environment attorney to find out what your legal rights are and the best way to protect them. Sexual harrassment is a form of gender discrimination, and employers should be held accountable if they discriminate against female workers in any fashion – but particularly for sexual harrassment. It does not matter if you have been wrongfully fired or are still employed, there is no reason to wait to find out what your legal rights are and how to protect yourself from sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
Disclaimer:
The materials available at the top of this page and at this gender discrimination, wrongful termination, and sex harassment law website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. If you are still asking “what should I do …”, “I’m being sexually harassed …” “my supervisor grabbed my…”, “my boss is touching…,” “I’ve been wrongfully terminated,” or “how do I …”, your best course is to contact an Ohio sexual harassment attorney/hostile work environment lawyer to obtain advice with respect to sexual harassment/hostile work environment questions or any particular employment law issue. Use and access to this employment law website or any of the links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship. The legal opinions expressed at the top of this page or through this employment law website are the opinions of the individual lawyer and may not reflect the opinions of Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm, Brian Spitz, or any individual attorney.