- Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- - SE HABLA ESPAÑOL
- Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- - SE HABLA ESPAÑOL
Mercer Legal Group represents Los Angeles and California employees in sexual harassment claims under FEHA and Title VII. If the conduct at work, the response to your complaint, or the impact on your job does not feel right, we can help you understand what the law allows.
Mercer Legal Group reviews employment law claims carefully, explains available options, and pursues appropriate remedies when the facts and law support them. Every case is different, and no attorney can guarantee a specific result.
A California sexual harassment claim can recover both your economic losses and damages for the harm the conduct caused. Under FEHA (Gov. Code §12965(b)), a prevailing employee can also recover attorney’s fees and costs, and there is no statutory cap on damages. Available remedies may include:
Every case is different, and no attorney can guarantee a specific outcome.
Start by protecting the record and the deadline. Write down each incident, report the conduct in writing if it is safe, and save how the employer responds. Speak with an attorney before you resign or sign severance. A FEHA sexual harassment complaint must reach the California Civil Rights Department within three years of the last incident (Gov. Code §12960(e)).
Our California sexual harassment attorneys read the facts, identify whether the case fits quid pro quo or hostile environment, file the right administrative charge, and pursue available remedies when the facts support them. From the first call you talk to a senior attorney. Cases are handled on a contingency-fee basis with no upfront cost.
Sexual harassment cases often hinge on what happened AFTER the employee reported, not only the conduct itself. Below are the questions clients ask us most.
California courts under FEHA accept circumstantial evidence and credibility-based proof in sexual harassment cases. Contemporaneous notes, texts, emails, witness statements from coworkers who were told about the conduct, and the employee’s response pattern all count. Los Angeles juries weigh the totality of evidence — they do not require direct witnesses to find harassment occurred.
It can be, depending on severity. California courts look at the totality of the circumstances — a single severe incident (assault, an extreme proposition tied to a job decision, an extreme slur) can meet the FEHA standard on its own. Lower-grade conduct usually has to be repeated. Los Angeles courts assess whether the conduct was objectively offensive and altered the conditions of work.
Yes. California employers have an affirmative duty under FEHA to take reasonable steps to prevent and address harassment. A failed or absent response to a credible Los Angeles workplace complaint can support liability against the employer and can also support a separate retaliation claim if the employee was punished after reporting.
Possibly, under California’s constructive discharge doctrine. If a reasonable person in the same Los Angeles workplace would have felt forced to resign, California law treats the resignation as a termination by the employer for purposes of damages. Constructive discharge claims hinge on what the employee tried before quitting.
For FEHA sexual harassment claims, three years from the last act in the pattern to file with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). Federal Title VII claims have shorter EEOC deadlines, often 300 days in California. For ongoing California workplace patterns, the “continuing violation” doctrine can extend the deadline beyond the last specific incident.
If you have been sexually harassed at work, if your employer ignored your complaint, or if you faced retaliation after reporting, contact Mercer Legal Group for a free, confidential case review. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.
