Do I Have a Potential Sexual Harassment Case?
Were you subjected to severe or pervasive verbal or physical conduct you consider sexually offensive or discriminatory towards women?
Common questions important in evaluating cases include, but are not limited to the following:
- Were you touched by a co-worker or supervisor or higher level manager in a manner that made you uncomfortable or that you found offensive?
- Did you witness other female colleagues being touched in a sexually inappropriate manner or being subjected to discrimination or insult because they are a woman?
- How frequently were you touched in a manner that made you feel uncomfortable?
- Were you touched in private areas? Did you witness other women being subjected to similar offensive touching?
- Were you subjected to or did you hear sexual remarks jokes or negative remarks based upon your gender or sex while in the workplace, even if the remarks were not directed at you but you found them offensive?
- How frequently were sexual remarks, innuendos, propositions or jokes directed at you or other women (in your presence)? Daily? Weekly? A few times a month?
- Have you witnessed a supervisor or coworker making sexual comments, propositions, jokes or innuendos, either to you or to others?
- Has your supervisor touched you or made inappropriate remarks at, or directed at you?
- What effect did the sexual comments or physical conduct have on your emotional state or work?
- Did you seek treatment from any healthcare provider or therapist for emotional or psychological harm caused by sexual comments or conduct?
- Did the sexual comments or conduct impact your work performance, preventing you from performing your best?
- Have you ever complained to management or human resources about this behavior?
- Did you ever document the sexual harassment, either in a diary for yourself, or in text or instant messages, emails or letters to the Company, the harasser, Human Resources, friends, family or healthcare professionals?
- What did HR or management do to rectify the situation?
- Did anything happen to you after voicing your concern?
- Did you suffer retaliation?
Do I Have a Potential Wrongful Termination Case?
In California, wrongful termination law has a specific meaning. It does not mean that the termination was wrong, or unfair—it means that the California termination violated specific public policies contained in CA statutes, regulations, or constitutional provisions.
Common questions important in evaluating cases include, but are not limited to the following:
- How long did you work for the company and in what location?
- How large a company is it?
- What was your total compensation?
- How much are your economic losses to date?
- Have you obtained new employment?
- How much less/more do you earn now in total compensation?
- What reason did they give for firing you or laying you off?
- If you think the termination reason they gave you was just a smokescreen for firing you illegally, what do you think the real reason is for their decision to terminate you?
- Did you have any history of formal or informal performance counseling or criticism?
- Are you aware of other employees who have committed the same infraction or violated the same policy as they claim they fired you for violating but who were not fired?
- If you believe you were fired and told it was for absenteeism when you had complained about racial harassment, do you know of other employees who had not made racial harassment complaints and were absent as much as you but were not fired?
- Were you given performance evaluations? What ratings were you given? If you claim you were fired for making complaints about unlawful or discriminatory conduct, or for requesting a medical or pregnancy leave or an accommodation for a disability, did you document those complaints in writing?
- Do you have any emails, text messages, instant messages or other documentation proving any aspect of your claims?
