Glenview Sexual Harassment Lawyer

For many years, Glenview has been an important part of Chicagoland. For example, Naval Air Station Glenview was one of the largest military bases in the Midwest for over 70 years. Unfortunately for workers, for much of this time, anti-sexual harassment laws were weak and sporadically enforced. Times have changed. Today, if you were the victim of workplace harassment, you have legal options.

Mitchell Kline, a dedicated Glenview sexual harassment lawyer, can quickly evaluate your case and apprise you of your available options. Sometimes, these cases settle quickly because the employer wants to avoid adverse publicity. Other times, these cases drag on until the end because the employer honestly believes it did nothing wrong. Either way, Mitchell Kline is with you until the end of the line.

Types of Sexual Harassment

In a nutshell, sexual harassment claims are a lot like gender discrimination claims. Most sexual harassment victims are female, although there are male victims, as well. Gender discrimination exists when employers treat people differently because they are different. Often, these different treatments are based on misogyny. Sexual harassment usually exists if unlawful harassment keeps people from doing their jobs. There are basically four types of harassment:

• Quid Pro Quo: It is illegal for employers to link any preferential treatment to any sexual favor. The situation need not be extreme. Promising to give a worker a workstation closer to the front if the worker dresses more provocatively is quid pro quo sexual harassment.
• Hostile Environment: Occasional coarse jokes or offensive remarks do not constitute a hostile environment. If this conduct prevents people from focusing on their jobs or causes them to avoid certain areas of the workplace, a legal remedy might be available.
• Retaliation: These sexual harassment claims actually have nothing to do with harassment itself. Employers cannot take adverse action against employees, such as termination or demotion, who engage in protected activities, such as reporting harassment or cooperating with an investigation.
• Third Party Sexual Harassment: These claims are particularly common in the hospitality sector. Employers are legally responsible for customer sexual harassment, mostly hostile environment sexual harassment, if the employer is in a position to protect the worker and the employer does not do so.

Typically, a Glenview sexual harassment lawyer can use federal, state, or local laws to protect your rights in these situations.

Procedural Issues

Federal law charges the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with enforcing federal anti-sexual harassment laws. But if a claim does not jive with the EEOC’s political or economic agenda, its lawyers often refuse to take action. So, if you complain to the EEOC and nothing happens, that does not mean your claim is meritless. It simply means that you are free to partner with an independent Glenview sexual harassment lawyer.

In court, sexual harassment victims have the burden of proof. So, eyewitness corroboration and other evidence is essential. Retaliation claims work a bit differently. Typically, victims must only show a temporal relationship between the action and the reaction (e.g. filing a report on Monday and a demotion on Wednesday).

Count on a Hard-Working Lawyer

You have the right to a harassment-free workplace. For a free consultation with an experienced Glenview sexual harassment lawyer, contact the Law Office of Mitchell A. Kline. 

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