I feel I was sexually harassed last year as a new employee. What are my next steps after reporting it with the company?

Question

I feel I was sexually harassed last year. I was a new employee. She rubbed her breasts against my body and made sexualized comments. This year she asked me to help her plan a trip, which at first I was okay with because I lived where she wanted to travel, but I needed to focus on my job, such as training, rewriting my bio, but she never came through. I told her that I didn't want to do the trip and wanted to focus on the job.

I opened up a case against her at the company. After she finds small ways to get back at me. She's left me off email staff lists, scheduled a new employee on my time, and reduced my opportunity to have new clients, when that employee was supposed to be at a different office. I was a new employee last year and complained to my colleague about the physical touching she did to me, but did not do with anyone else. I have records of many emails I sent to the person working on my case. I feel that they're protecting this manager. I have had many sleepless nights, and retribution continues.

Sam Setyan · Answer

Dealing with harassment as a new employee, and then seeing negative changes after speaking up, is a lot to handle. Making an internal report is an important step. Once an employer knows about harassment, California law generally requires it to investigate promptly and take reasonable steps to stop it.

California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits sexual harassment, and its harassment rules apply to employers with even one employee. Unwanted touching and sexual comments are the kind of conduct the law addresses. Whether specific conduct rises to a legal claim depends on the circumstances, but California law recognizes that a single incident can be enough if it is serious.

What happens after a complaint is a separate issue. Retaliating against someone for making a good-faith complaint is independently unlawful, and retaliation doesn’t have to mean being fired. Being removed from email lists, having a schedule changed, or losing access to new clients can count when the changes meaningfully affect someone’s job. A retaliation claim can sometimes succeed even if the underlying harassment claim does not.

A dated record of what happened, and of what has changed since the complaint, can be very helpful, along with copies of relevant emails and schedules.

Deadlines also matter. A complaint with the California Civil Rights Department generally must be filed within three years of the conduct. After the department issues a right-to-sue notice, there is generally one year to file a lawsuit, although certain circumstances can affect that timing. An employment attorney can explain the available options before those deadlines approach.

I feel I was sexually harassed last year as a new employee. What are my next steps after reporting it with the company?

1 answer

Sam Setyan

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