Have You Been Sexually Harrassed?

Wisconsin Sexual Harassment Attorney

You should feel safe when you go to work.

The personal injury attorneys at Bye, Goff & Rohde provide justice to sexual harassment victims. Most Americans spend the bulk of their time at work. However, for victims of sexual harassment, hours spent working are pure torture. If you dread talking to a manager, avoid contact with certain co-workers, or believe you’re being treated unfairly, you’re not alone.

At Bye, Goff & Rohde, our attorneys are passionate about helping victims of sexual harassment. We know the emotional and psychological impact working in a hostile environment can have, and we want to put an end to this kind of treatment.

If you believe you’re a victim of this type of harassment, we can help.

Are You a Victim of Sexual Harassment?

Sexual harassment can take many forms. It may range from overt physical conduct to a series of employer actions that create a hostile work environment.

Sexual harassment reveals itself in countless ways, including:

• Hiring and promotions: A company does not hire or promote you because of your sex.
• Conditions of employment: Your work environment is not equal to that of opposite-sex employees. For instance, having locker rooms for males only.
• Pay rate discrimination: If your wage is less than opposite-sex employees for equal work, this could be sexual discrimination.
• Hostile workplace: Offensive language, sexual inquiries, vulgar jokes, inappropriate sexual advances, touching, grabbing, explicit images, or sexual graffiti.
• Quid pro quo: If the condition of your employment rests upon submitting to sexual advances or sexual conduct. Even if you’ve submitted, you can still file a lawsuit.
• Pregnancy discrimination: If you’re unfairly treated because you’re pregnant.

If you’ve suffered from any of the experiences above, talk to one of our personal injury attorneys.

What to Do if You Have Been Sexually Harassed?

Employers should have a policy against sexual harassment and a procedure to follow for any worker who believes they have been subjected to sexual harassment.  Often the policy and procedure are contained in an employee handbook available in the workplace. 

• Check the employee handbook: The first thing to do is the check the handbook to find out the procedure, which normally entails reporting the harassment to a superior or a human resources representative. 
• Write a report: It is best to make the report in writing and keep a copy, so you can show what you reported and when. 
• Submit the report to your employer: Upon receiving a report, the employer has an obligation to promptly investigate the report and to take prompt, appropriate remedial action.  Usually, such remedial action starts with protecting that harassed employee and separating them from interaction with the harasser.  Remedial action can take other steps, such as educating the workforce on avoiding harassing or offensive behavior; disciplining or even terminating the harasser, and if appropriate, filing a police report. 
• Gage how your employer responds: The key measure of whether the employer’s remedial action is effective is whether it stops the harassment from recurring.  Special rules apply if harassment is committed by the victim’s direct superior or boss.  However, unless the harassed employee follows company procedure to report the harassment, the employer may not have enough knowledge to trigger the obligation to investigate and take remedial action.

Before You Take Action, Talk to the Experts

Our experienced injury lawyers have over 50 years of experience working on civil rights and sexual harassment cases. We can answer your questions. Call us at 715-425-8161 or submit a contact form online to set up a free case review.