Sexual Advances in New Jersey

Harassment Lawyers Serving Workers Throughout New Jersey

Sexual advances in the workplace may make an employee feel extremely uncomfortable. When it is a supervisor making the sexual advances, an employee may not feel like they can say no. Both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination prohibit sexual harassment. If you are subjected to unwelcome sexual advances on the job, you may be able to recover damages with the assistance of the New Jersey sexual harassment attorneys at Phillips & Associates.

Sexual Advances in New Jersey

Sexual advances may be sexual harassment under either Title VII or the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. Prohibited advances may be explicitly sexual come-ons, or they may be repeated requests for dates. In some cases, employers have a policy against dating or intimate relationships between coworkers in order to limit their potential liability for claims of sexual harassment and avoid toxic situations in the workplace that undermine productivity and morale.

Generally, if you make it clear that sexual advances are unwelcome, but the harasser continues, you may be entitled to recourse under Title VII or the Law Against Discrimination. However, the nature of the sexual advance may affect whether it is considered harassment. For example, you may see a coworker's request for a date as offensive, but if it is a single request, it is probably not going to be considered harassment. On the other hand, repeated requests for sex often may be seen as actionable harassment by courts.

Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Work Environment

Unwelcome sexual advances are considered sexual harassment if they affect an individual's employment, unreasonably interfere with job performance, or create a hostile or intimidating work environment. For example, if your supervisor says that you will be fired if you do not have sex with him, this is actionable quid pro quo sexual harassment. In another example, if your manager repeatedly touches you in a sexual manner or suggests that you have sex or dress more provocatively, this is likely to be seen as creating a hostile work environment.

Whether you may bring a claim under Title VII depends on the size of your employer. Title VII only applies to employers that have at least 15 employees. The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination applies to smaller employers, and it specifically allows even workers for employers that have only one employee to recover damages for sexual harassment.

Many people assume that sexual harassment involves a male harasser and a female victim. However, either the victim or the harasser may be a man or a woman, and the harassment need not involve opposite sexes.

Your employer may be held strictly liable for equitable damages, such as back pay and front pay, if the person making sexual advances is a manager or supervisor with a direct impact on your job. If the person making sexual advances is a coworker, a lot rides on how your employer responds to a report of harassment. Anyone affected by the sexual advances may bring a sexual harassment claim. You should use any employer complaint mechanism that is available in order to give your employer an opportunity to take corrective measures.

Protect Your Rights by Hiring a Sexual Harassment Attorney in New Jersey

Sexual advances in the workplace may range from unsettling to extremely distressing. You have a right to work in a place that is free from sexual harassment. The New Jersey attorneys at Phillips & Associates are aggressive and knowledgeable advocates for victims of sexual harassment. You should contact us as soon as you are aware that you may have a claim.

Call us at (866) 229-9441 or use our online form to set up a free appointment with an employment lawyer. We help people throughout Passaic, Bergen, Morris, Essex, Union, Hudson, Somerset, Middlesex, Monmouth, Mercer, Burlington, and Camden Counties. Our firm is a contingency law firm, so you do not need to pay us anything unless we get compensation for you.