Verbal harassment refers to inappropriate jokes, sexually-implicit comments or questions about your sex life.
Sexual harassment is clearly prohibited under Alaska law, according to which sexual discrimination in the workplace is illegal. The Alaska Human Rights law has been in place for decades now, but that never stopped such cases from happening. The main reason is that many abusers feel they can do whatever they want and their victims won’t say anything. This is unfortunately true. Only a small fraction of sexual harassment victims go public with their stories.
If you live in the state and are struggling with such a situation, stop being a victim and look up the best Alaska sexual harassment lawyers.
What can a lawyer do for you? They can do plenty, starting with the simple act of listening to your story. And believing you, because that’s another reason women don’t voice their complaints. They are afraid no one will believe them.
When you talk to an Anchorage sexual harassment laywer, you’ll get clarity. An attorney with many years of practice in this field can immediately tell you where you stand and if you have a case. You know you have a case, and it’s a tragic one, but your lawyer will help you mount a legal case.
In order to do that, a lawyer starts by establishing what type of situations you’re in. There are two types of sexual harassment in the workplace situations.
Hostile work environment refers to those cases where the one committing the abuse is a coworker. Or several. There are plenty of such cases. Sexual harassment comes in many forms. Verbal harassment refers to inappropriate jokes, sexually-implicit comments or questions about your sex life. Text messages and offensive pictures sent to your phone or laptop also constitute evidence of sexual harassment.
Then there are those who get physical – unwanted touching, fondling or forcibly kissing you are all acts of sexual harassment.
At the same time, an experienced sexual harassment lawyer can also help if you’re suffering at the hands of your supervisor or any other employee at management level. These are known as quid pro quo cases.
In such cases, a manager propositions an employee for sex and uses all the means in their power to make them accept. For instance, some threaten you with termination if you don’t play nice with them. Others use more subtle means of persuasion. They might deny you a well-deserved promotion or pay raise under various pretexts. Or you might find yourself assigned to the most dangerous or exhausting tasks, and they’ll let you know that your life would be much easier if you gave in.
When you first sit down with an employment lawyer specializing in sexual harassment the first thing they’ll tell you is that you should keep a journal of all the abuse against you and collect evidence. If you can get it on tape when your workmates make crude remarks about your body or the boss tries once again to force himself on you, such evidence will weigh heavily when you file a complaint.
