San Diego sexual harassment
San Diego Sexual Harassment Lawyer
You decide what happens next. Nothing gets reported, filed or sent to your employer without your say so.
This page covers workplace sexual harassment for San Diego employees. For the statewide rules see California harassment, and for other San Diego claims see the San Diego hub.
The Two Kinds California Recognizes
Quid pro quo, where something at work is conditioned on submitting to conduct of a sexual nature. And hostile work environment, where the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to alter the conditions of your employment.
California deliberately set the hostile environment standard lower than the federal courts had drifted to. A single incident can be enough if it is serious enough, and the law says plainly that harassment cases are rarely suitable for disposal before trial.
What San Diego Employees Ask First
Whether reporting will cost them the job. Whether anyone has to be told. Whether it is serious enough to count. Those are the three questions in almost every first conversation, and the honest answers are: retaliation for reporting is itself unlawful, nothing moves without your instruction, and the threshold is lower than most people assume.
Evidence Without Confrontation
Contemporaneous notes with dates. Messages, saved somewhere that is not a work device. The names of anyone who saw or heard. A written record of what you reported, to whom and when.
None of that requires confronting anyone or announcing anything. It just means the account does not depend on memory later.
Where a San Diego Claim Goes
A FEHA complaint is filed with the California Civil Rights Department, which has no San Diego office; the nearest are Los Angeles and Riverside, and filing is done online. A lawsuit goes to San Diego County Superior Court at the Hall of Justice, 330 West Broadway, or to the Southern District of California for federal claims.
Find Out Where You Stand
Three questions and a phone number. An attorney reads every one, and you hear back within one business day.
San Diego Sexual Harassment FAQ
Does My Employer Find Out If I Call You?
No. Nothing is reported or filed without your instruction.
It happened once. Is that enough?
It can be. California rejected the idea that a single serious incident is automatically insufficient.
I did not report it at the time. Does that end it?
No. There are good reasons people do not report immediately, and the law does not require it as a precondition.
The harasser was a client, not a colleague.
An employer can still be responsible for harassment by non-employees where it knew or should have known.
Employment Law Resources
- Government Code 12923, harassment standards and summary judgment: leginfo
- California Civil Rights Department, filing a complaint: calcivilrights.ca.gov
- SB 331, Silenced No More Act: leginfo
- San Diego County Superior Court, civil filing: sdcourt.ca.gov
Tell Us What Happened
One business day for a response. You pay nothing unless we win.