How do you handle harassment at the workplace? It is quite a difficult thing to do. It becomes even more difficult if it involves sexual harassment. However, there are indeed ways to stop this from happening and penalize the perpetrator as well. What you need to do is talk to an employment discrimination attorney about this immediately.
Which category does the practice belong to – on a quid pro quo basis and on ground of hostile work environment? If you face unwelcome sexual advances and requests for favors in exchange of job-related raises, it belongs to the first category. If it is a continuous practice at workplace, you may complain about a hostile environment.
What should be your first step? Send a written document to the perpetrator of the harassment asking him/her to stop this kind of behavior. If this does not work, file a complaint with your immediate superior. Scale your complaints to the higher authorities if this fails too.
When do you need to file a complaint with the federal or state agency? If your complaints to the superior/employer fail to stop this harassment, you may consider filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency, or the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR), the state agency.
The federal Civil Rights Act Title VII and the Florida Civil Rights Act provides you protection from any such harassment at work. Always remember, each of these agencies have a set time for filing a complaint. It is 180 days for the EEOC and 365 days for the FCHR. If you fail to do this on time, you may miss your right to fail.
When is filing a lawsuit possible? Only if you get a right-to sue letter from the EEOC/FCHR, you may be able to file a suit against the individual perpetrator(s). Usually, the agency issues this letter after completing an investigation that reveals harassment at the workplace.
Sometimes, excessive work pressure on the agency also prompts it to issue a letter even before completing an investigation. Then your Ft Lauderdale discrimination attorney may proceed with filing a claim against the right offender, i.e. the individual(s) whose behavior was of harassing nature, at the right court.
What may happen to the perpetrator? If the court finds an employer responsible for such actions, directly or indirectly, it may impose severe penalties on them. This may also include punitive damages for the victim in certain cases. It is also illegal for your employer to terminate you from the job if you file such a complaint.