California sexual harassment & hostile work environment lawyers

How California defines harassment

The Fair Employment and Housing Act (Gov. Code § 12940(j)) prohibits harassment because of any protected characteristic: sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, military or veteran status, and more. Unlike FEHA's discrimination provisions, which apply to employers with five or more employees, the harassment protections apply to employers of any size and protect employees, applicants, unpaid interns, volunteers, and independent contractors.

Harassment generally takes two forms:

• Quid pro quo: job benefits are conditioned on submitting to sexual advances, or a person is punished for rejecting them.
• Hostile work environment: unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic that is severe or pervasive enough to alter the conditions of employment and create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment.

California's employee-friendly standard

In 2019, the Legislature added Gov. Code § 12923 to reject court decisions that had made harassment cases hard to win. Under current law:

• A single incident can be enough if it unreasonably interferes with work or creates a hostile environment.
• You do not have to show your productivity declined, only that the harassment made it more difficult to do your job.
• The "stray remarks" doctrine, which let employers dismiss discriminatory comments as isolated, does not apply in California.
• Harassment cases are rarely appropriate for dismissal on summary judgment, because they depend on facts a jury should weigh.
• Sexual harassment doesn't need to be motivated by sexual desire.

Examples of workplace harassment

• Unwelcome sexual advances, propositions, or requests for dates after you've said no
• Touching, hugging, blocking movement, or standing uncomfortably close
• Sexual jokes, comments about your body, or sexually explicit images, texts, or memes
• Slurs, epithets, or "jokes" about race, religion, national origin, disability, age, or sexual orientation
• Mocking an accent, disability, or religious practice
• Repeated misgendering or deadnaming after being asked to stop
• Threats, intimidation, or offensive gestures tied to a protected characteristic
• Harassment over text, social media, or messaging apps, including outside work hours

Who is responsible

• Supervisors: employers are strictly liable for harassment by supervisors. It doesn't matter whether the company knew.
• Coworkers, customers, and vendors: employers are liable if they knew or should have known about the harassment and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.
• The harasser personally: under Gov. Code § 12940(j)(3), the individual harasser, whether a supervisor or coworker, can be personally liable for damages.
• Failure to prevent: employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment (Gov. Code § 12940(k)), including training required by Gov. Code § 12950.1 and a real complaint and investigation process.

Reporting harassment, and what happens next

Report harassment in writing when you can, to HR or a manager outside the chain of the harasser, and keep a copy. A written report creates a record that the company was on notice. The employer should promptly investigate, protect you from further harassment, and take corrective action. It must not retaliate against you for complaining, or against witnesses who participate in the investigation.

California also limits secrecy. Settlement agreements can't prevent disclosure of facts about sexual harassment or other unlawful workplace conduct (Code Civ. Proc. § 1001; Gov. Code § 12964.5), and the federal Ending Forced Arbitration Act lets survivors of sexual harassment or assault take their claims to court even if they signed an arbitration agreement.

Evidence to preserve

• Texts, emails, chat messages, voicemails, and social media messages, with screenshots that show dates and senders
• A private, dated journal of incidents, witnesses, and how each affected you
• Copies of your complaints and the company's responses
• Names of coworkers who saw the conduct or experienced similar treatment
• Records of medical or counseling visits related to the stress

Keep personal copies on a personal device or account, but don't forward confidential company documents unrelated to the harassment.

What you can recover

• Emotional distress damages, often the largest component of a harassment case
• Lost wages if you were fired, demoted, or forced to quit
• Punitive damages against an employer whose managers acted with malice or ratified the conduct
• Attorney fees and costs

Deadlines

• FEHA: three years from the last act of harassment to file with the California Civil Rights Department, then one year after the right-to-sue notice. Under the continuing violation doctrine, earlier acts may be included if they're part of the same pattern.
• Title VII: 300 days to file an EEOC charge.

What to do if you're being harassed

1. Prioritize your safety. If you're in physical danger, call 911. You can also seek a workplace violence or civil harassment restraining order.
2. Tell the harasser to stop if you feel safe doing so, ideally in writing. You aren't required to, and harassment by a supervisor is unlawful whether or not you object.
3. Report it in writing and keep a copy. If HR doesn't act, escalate to a higher-level manager.
4. Preserve evidence immediately, because messages and posts can be deleted.
5. Get support. Counseling records also document the impact of the harassment.
6. Talk to a lawyer before you quit. How you leave can affect whether you can recover lost wages.

How your case works with us

Most employees have never hired a lawyer before. Here's what working with us looks like, from the first call to resolution.

1. Free, confidential consultation. We listen to what happened, review any documents you have, and tell you honestly whether you have a claim, which laws apply, and which deadlines matter.
2. Investigation. We gather your personnel file, payroll records, and communications, identify witnesses, and request records your employer is legally required to provide.
3. Agency filings, when required. For claims under FEHA, we file with the California Civil Rights Department and obtain a right-to-sue notice so your case can proceed in court.
4. Demand and negotiation. Many cases resolve through a demand letter, early negotiation, or mediation, without a trial.
5. Litigation, if needed. If your employer won't do right by you, we file suit and are prepared to take the case through discovery and trial or arbitration.

Fees. Most employment cases are handled on a contingency basis. You pay no attorney fees unless we recover money for you, and many California employment laws require the employer to pay your attorney fees if you win.