Workplace Harassment

No job requires enduring abuse.

Harassment has no place in the workplace. It is illegal, it still happens, and proving it can be difficult for the person living through it. California law recognizes two types:

• Hostile work environment: behavior so severe or pervasive that a reasonable person would find the workplace intimidating, hostile, or abusive, or that keeps you from doing your job.
• Quid pro quo: an employer or supervisor makes sexual demands a condition of employment, whether for hiring, promotion, raises, or other perks. The unwanted demand is illegal whether you go along with it or refuse.

The law has no gender requirement. Harasser and victim can be any gender, and the conduct can come from supervisors, coworkers, or third parties the employer allows into your work life.

Your employer owns the environment

California employers are obligated to train their people, including supervisors and upper management, on what conduct is prohibited at work, and to provide real procedures for reporting it. Many do neither. An employer that knew, or should have known, about harassment and failed to act is accountable.

You can still be employed and have a claim

You do not have to resign to protect yourself. Ashley has recovered for employees who were still working at the company, including a $350,000 settlement for current employees on sexual harassment and discrimination claims. And if you are punished for reporting it, that is a separate, additional claim: see Retaliation.

Build your evidence as it happens

Save the offending emails, texts, and documents. Keep photos or video of inappropriate conduct where appropriate. Use the company’s reporting system, or speak to an uninvolved supervisor, when it is safe to do so. Speaking up can feel impossible when you fear retaliation, and that fear is real. But verifiable documentation of what you are facing will help your case enormously in the long run and give your employer every opportunity to address the problem before you contact a lawyer.

These are hard conversations. Nobody calls an employment lawyer on a good day. Ashley meets you where you are, explains your options in plain terms, and keeps everything confidential.