No employee should have to endure sexual harassment at work. Whether the harassment comes from a supervisor or coworker, or even a customer or client, New Jersey law provides strong protections and meaningful remedies for victims. Attorney Chris Keating fights aggressively on behalf of employees who face sexual harassment in the workplace. Contact Keating Law Firm for a free consultation to discuss your options with a sexual harassment lawyer in New Jersey.
What Is Workplace Sexual Harassment?
The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits all types of sexual harassment in all workplaces, regardless of employer size. Sexual harassment takes many forms and may appear at any level within a company. Common examples include:
- A supervisor making repeated sexual comments, innuendos, or jokes directed at a subordinate
- A manager conditioning promotions, assignments, or favorable treatment on sexual favors
- A coworker sending sexually explicit messages, emails, or images
- Unwelcome touching, contact, or invasion of personal space
- Persistent requests for dates or romantic attention
- Crude or degrading remarks about your body or appearance
Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Work Environment
New Jersey recognizes two primary forms of workplace sexual harassment. Quid pro quo harassment occurs when a person in a position of authority demands sexual favors in exchange for job benefits such as raises, promotions, or continued employment. A boss who tells a subordinate that career advancement depends on a personal relationship engages in quid pro quo harassment.
Hostile work environment harassment occurs when unwelcome sexual conduct becomes severe or pervasive enough to alter the conditions of your employment, making it abusive or hostile. Conduct may be considered pervasive when it is continuous or repetitive, and may come in the form of an ongoing pattern of inappropriate jokes, comments, requests, or behaviors from supervisors or coworkers. In some instances, a one-time event of sexual harassment can be so severe that the single event, by itself, gives rise to a hostile work environment claim.
Employer Liability
Employers have a legal duty to prevent, investigate, and address sexual harassment in the workplace. Unfortunately, many companies do not have an established sexual harassment policy. Alternatively, companies often place generic sexual harassment policies in their employee handbooks and then do not provide their employees with meaningful training on those policies.
When a company ignores complaints, fails to investigate reported harassment, protects the harasser, or punishes the person who spoke up, that employer may be responsible for resulting harm to an employee. Attorney Chris Keating holds employers accountable under the law when they fail to maintain a harassment-free workplace.
Compensation for Sexual Harassment Victims
Victims of workplace sexual harassment may recover damages, including back pay for lost wages, front pay for future lost earnings, compensatory damages for emotional distress and psychological harm, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees and litigation costs. In some cases, if appropriate, an employee may also seek reinstatement to the position they once held. Attorney Chris Keating cannot undo the harm you were caused in the past, but he can help you to fight for justice and a better tomorrow.
Contact a New Jersey Sexual Harassment Lawyer
You do not have to tolerate sexual harassment or unlawful retaliation at work. Call Keating Law Firm at (856) 519-5011 to schedule a free consultation with a sexual harassment lawyer in New Jersey. Keating Law Firm handles employment cases throughout New Jersey and will provide you with a free and confidential consultation to evaluate your claim.