Ohio Sexual Harassment Lawyer

Bryant Legal, LLC: Sexual Harassment Lawyers in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio 

Sexual harassment in any capacity remains problematic for many workers.

If you experience sexual harassment in the workplace, whether it be by a co-worker or supervisor, you need to call an employment law attorney immediately to help protect and assert your legal rights.

Employees have the right to work without fear of sexual harassment, employment discrimination, and retaliation.

We encourage harassment victims to contact Bryant Legal, LLC’s sexual harassment attorneys in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio, for a free case review.

What are Common Types of Sexual Harassment in the Work Environment?

There are many forms of sexual harassment. Examples of sexual harassment at work include (but are not limited to):

• Staring in a sexually suggestive manner (“leering”)
• Making offensive remarks about looks, clothing, or body parts
• Physical sexual advances, such as touching in any way that may make an employee feel uncomfortable, such as patting, pinching, groping, or intentionally brushing up against another’s body
• Telling sexual or lustful jokes, including gestures
• Soliciting, sharing, and/or sending sexually explicit and/or suggestive letters, notes, emails, or images
• Demanding sexual acts and favors while threatening harassment victims’ terms or conditions of employment (i.e., termination of employment or receiving a demotion for refusing to perform sexual acts or reporting harassment)

If you have faced sexual harassment, report the harassment and contact Bryant Legal LLC’s top rated sexual harassment lawyers in Columbus and Toledo.

How Can an Ohio Sexual Harassment Lawyer Help?

To hold employers accountable for failing to take action to correct the problem of sexual harassment, you need to prove several elements. Without an employment attorney experienced in handling sexual harassment cases, it will be difficult to know what steps to take and how to prove those elements. 

Ohio’s sexual harassment laws mirror those of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. See Ohio Revised Code Section 4112.01 and Ohio Administrative Code 4112-5-05(J)(1). Title VII and Ohio law prohibit retaliation in any aspect of your employment for opposing sexual harassment.

Under Title VII and Ohio law, there are two types of workplace sexual harassment: quid pro quo sexual harassment and hostile work environment.

Below is a simple breakdown of the elements needed to prove quid pro quo sexual harassment and hostile work environment sexual harassment cases in Ohio:

Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment

To prevail on the first type of sexual harassment claim, quid pro quo harassment, you must assert and prove that:

• The employee was a member of a protected class;
• The employee was subjected to sexual harassment in the form of unwanted sexual advances or requests for sexual favors;
• The harassment complained of was based on sex;
• The employee’s submission to the unwelcome advances was an express or implied condition of receiving a tangible job benefit or the refusal of which would result in a tangible job detriment; and
• The existence of respondeat superior (either automatically if the conduct was by a manager or supervisor or proof that the employer knew of sexual harassment through its agents or supervisory personnel but failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action to correct the situation).

Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment

To prevail on a claim for hostile work environment sexual harassment, you must assert and prove that:

• The employee was a member of a protected class;
• The employee was subjected to acts of sexual harassment in the form of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature;
• The harassment complained of was based upon sex;
• The charged sexual harassment had the effect of unreasonably interfering with the plaintiff’s work performance and creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment, and;
• The existence of respondeat superior (employer responsible for employee’s actions through a supervisor or proof that employer knew about the harassment, but failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action).

 
Under hostile environment harassment, a claim depends on the individual facts of each sexual harassment case.

It is important to note that harassing conduct need not be motivated by sexual desire.

Courts examine 3 different factors to determine if the sexual harassment created a hostile work environment:
 

1. Was the conduct severe or pervasive enough to alter the terms and conditions of employment? This analysis is under the totality of the circumstances. Considerations may include the frequency and severity of the discriminatory conduct, whether it was physically threatening, humiliating, or a mere utterance.
2. The conduct must be subjectively offensive to the victim.
3. Courts assess whether the conduct, objectively, would be offensive to a reasonable person.

Have You Been Sexually Harassed at Work in Ohio? Contact Us Today to Discuss Your Sexual Harassment Case

If you believe you are a victim of sexual harassment, it’s important to consult an attorney regarding your rights. We can advise and help you stop the harassment at work. If the conduct does not stop, our OH sexual harassment attorneys will devise a plan to help you depart from work while preserving your claims of sexual harassment.

In the event you have already been terminated or retailed against for reporting sexual harassment, contact our law firm directly about your legal issue, either at the Columbus or Toledo offices of Bryant Legal, LLC, for a free consultation.