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California employees are afforded many rights. For example, if you, the California employee, report instances of sexual harassment that are occurring in your workplace, you are protected by California and federal law from employer retaliation. To have a claim for retaliation in California you must have exercised a protected right (such as reporting sexual harassment) and as a result, suffered adverse retaliatory action by your employer immediately or shortly thereafter.  An experienced Southern California employment lawyer can help you determine if you have been the victim of employer retaliation.

In a recent case, an administrator at a local university claimed that the university retaliated against her by eliminating her position following her allegation of sexual harassment by a former dean. The woman alleges that at a dinner with the dean, he forced her to touch touch him inappropriately while they were discussing a possible promotion.  If true, this is a classic example of sexual harassment and is not acceptable in the California workplace.

While the dean has since resigned, the woman says that after she reported the sexual harassment, her job at the university disappeared. In fact, the woman says that she was informed that her position “no longer existed and there was no specific job at [the university] into which she could be placed.”  Of course, the university denies all such allegations.

This is one example of the type of retaliation that some California employees have faced following a report of unlawful behavior. Again, retaliation for reporting sexual harassment is not allowed under both state and federal law.