Sexual harassment rarely happens in front of witnesses. It happens in a closed office, in a late-night text, in a private message on a work chat app, or in a comment made just quietly enough. Then, when the employee reports it, the supervisor denies everything, HR says it "couldn't substantiate" the complaint, and the employee is the one who ends up with a new schedule, a bad review, or no job.
That pattern is familiar to us. We know how to investigate what really happened, including what supervisors, managers, and HR said privately, before and after you complained.
Bryant Workers Law represents employees, not employers. Attorney Shelley Bryant has practiced California law since 2002 and has personally filed and litigated employment lawsuits, including sexual harassment and retaliation cases, in 19 California counties and in federal court.
Free Case Evaluation: Call 559-985-0440 or use our contact form. If you are in danger or were assaulted, contact law enforcement first.
Sexual Harassment Representation in Fresno and Throughout California
Bryant Worker's Law, PC, is based in Fresno and represents employees throughout California. The firm's approach emphasizes investigating the evidence — including what supervisors, managers, and HR knew, how the employer responded, and whether retaliation followed an employee's complaint.
What harassment looks like, and how we investigate it
A supervisor keeps asking about your sex life
Questions about who you're dating, what you do on weekends, or what you're like in bed are not small talk when they come from the person who controls your schedule and your reviews.
How we investigate. We document each incident: date, place, exact words as best you remember them, and who was nearby. We look for anyone the supervisor said similar things to, and for messages where the supervisor repeated the questions in writing. Patterns matter, and so do the people who noticed them.
Unwanted requests for dates, and propositions after you said no
One invitation may be awkward. Repeated requests after you've said no, or a proposition that comes with hints about your job, are a different matter.
How we investigate. Your "no" is important evidence. We help you find where you declined, whether in a text, an email, or a conversation someone overheard, and we track what the person did next. A change in how you were treated after you refused is often the center of the case.
Unwanted touching
Hugs that last too long, hands on your back or waist, brushing past in a way that isn't accidental, or worse. A single incident of unwanted physical contact can be serious.
How we investigate. We identify witnesses, security or camera coverage that may have existed, anyone you told at the time, and any medical or counseling records. We look at whether the employer received earlier complaints about the same person.
Sexual texts, messages, jokes, or images, including on remote work platforms
Harassment doesn't require a shared office. It shows up in text messages, direct messages on Teams or Slack, comments on video calls, explicit images, and "jokes" posted in group chats.
How we investigate. We help you identify and preserve the messages you have, with dates and senders intact. In litigation, we can seek the relevant communications through discovery, including messages on company systems, and question the sender and recipients under oath. Electronic messages often show what a person was willing to say when they thought no one else would read it.
A supervisor conditions your job or a benefit on sexual favors
"Be nice to me and you'll get the shift." "Go out with me and I'll take care of your review." This is quid pro quo harassment, and it doesn't have to be stated outright.
How we investigate. We connect the supervisor's statements to the decisions that followed: assignments, schedules, raises, discipline, or termination. We look at who made those decisions, what records support them, and whether the supervisor had a hand in them.
Harassment by coworkers
Harassment by a coworker, or even by a customer or vendor, can still make the employer responsible, particularly once the employer knows about it.
How we investigate. We focus on what the employer knew and when. We look for earlier complaints, comments made to supervisors, and incidents that managers saw. Then we examine what the employer did, if anything, to stop it.
HR ignored your complaint, or says it investigated and found nothing
An employer's finding of "no wrongdoing" is not the final word. Some investigations are careful. Others interview only the accused, ignore witnesses, or reach a conclusion before the facts are in.
How we investigate. In litigation, we seek the complete investigation file: the complaint, witness interview notes, the investigator's notes and drafts, the documents considered, and the final report. We look at who was interviewed, who wasn't, what questions were asked, and whether the conclusion matches the evidence collected. Then we question HR and the investigator under oath about how the investigation was done.
The harasser has done this before
Many employees suspect they weren't the first.
How we investigate. We look into prior complaints against the same person, personnel and discipline records, and accounts from current and former coworkers. Where it is legally justified and a court authorizes it, discovery can also reach relevant electronic devices or accounts. Courts take privacy seriously, and that kind of discovery is not available in every case.
The supervisor denies saying it
How we investigate. Denials are tested against the record: contemporaneous messages, what you told others at the time, witness accounts, prior complaints, and inconsistencies between the supervisor's versions of events, including what the supervisor told HR compared with what the supervisor says under oath.
You were punished after you reported harassment
Retaliation can look like a sudden write-up, a schedule change, lost shifts, a demotion, exclusion from meetings, or termination.
How we investigate. We line up the date of your complaint against every change that followed. We look at whether the people who took action against you knew about the complaint, and whether the reason they now give existed before you complained. Retaliation is a separate claim, and it can succeed even when the harassment claim is disputed.
A note on evidence. Discovery has limits. Records may no longer exist, employers object, and courts decide what must be produced. We can't promise that any particular record will be produced or that a court will order any particular discovery.
Free Case Evaluation
Call 559-985-0440 or use our contact form. If you are in danger or were assaulted, contact law enforcement first.
Sexual harassment under California law
This is a summary of how the law generally works. Whether a claim exists depends on the facts.
What counts as sexual harassment
California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits harassment because of sex, which includes gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy. Harassment doesn't have to be motivated by sexual desire, and the harasser and the person harassed can be the same sex. FEHA's harassment protections apply to employers of any size, with at least one employee, and protect applicants, unpaid interns, volunteers, and certain contractors as well as employees.
The law recognizes two main forms:
- Quid pro quo harassment: a job benefit, such as hiring, a promotion, a schedule, or continued employment, is conditioned on submitting to sexual conduct, or a job detriment follows a refusal.
- Hostile work environment: unwelcome conduct because of sex that is severe or pervasive enough to alter working conditions. Under California law, a single incident can be enough if it is serious enough, and you don't have to show that your work performance declined.
Who is responsible
- Supervisors. An employer is generally responsible for sexual harassment by a supervisor. The amount of damages can be reduced in some cases if the employee unreasonably failed to use the employer's complaint procedures and doing so would have prevented some of the harm.
- Coworkers, customers, and others. An employer is generally responsible if it knew or should have known about the harassment and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.
- The harasser personally. A person who harasses can be personally liable under California law, even if the employer is also responsible.
- Prevention. Employers must take reasonable steps to prevent harassment from happening. Failing to do so can be a separate claim when harassment occurs.
Retaliation
It is unlawful to retaliate against an employee for reporting harassment, opposing it, or taking part in an investigation, whether as the person harassed or as a witness.
What you may be able to recover
Depending on the claims and the evidence, an employee may be able to recover compensation for emotional distress, lost wages and benefits, future lost earnings if the employee was forced out or fired, and attorney's fees and costs. Punitive damages may be available where the employer acted with malice, oppression, or fraud. Some remedies are limited against government employers. No result can be promised.
Filing deadlines
A FEHA harassment claim generally requires first filing a complaint with California's Civil Rights Department. California generally allows three years to file that complaint and one year after a right-to-sue notice to file a lawsuit. A federal charge with the EEOC generally must be filed within 300 days in California. Other claims may have different deadlines, and government employers can be subject to additional rules. Waiting can cost you options, including evidence.
Arbitration and the federal Ending Forced Arbitration Act
Many employees signed an arbitration agreement when they were hired, often electronically, and don't remember it. Arbitration sends a dispute to a private arbitrator instead of a judge and jury.
A federal law, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, lets a person alleging sexual harassment or sexual assault choose not to be bound by an arbitration agreement made before the dispute arose. A court, not an arbitrator, decides whether the law applies. Some important limits:
- It applies to disputes that arose or claims that accrued on or after March 3, 2022.
- It doesn't reach an arbitration agreement made after the dispute arose. A dispute generally arises when an employee raises a complaint and the employer opposes it or fails to act on it. So if you already complained, a new arbitration clause, such as one in a severance agreement, may not be covered.
- The claim must actually involve sexual harassment or sexual assault.
When the Act applies, courts in California hold that it makes the arbitration agreement unenforceable for the entire case in which the sexual-harassment claim is brought — not just the harassment claim itself. That means related claims in the same lawsuit, such as retaliation, discrimination, or wage claims, generally stay in court too. One limit: the Act reaches only the claims actually filed in that case, so a separate claim never brought in the lawsuit can remain subject to arbitration.
Whether your harassment claim can stay in court depends on your agreement, your claims, and the timing. We review arbitration agreements as part of evaluating every harassment case.
What you can do now
- Write down what happened: dates, places, exact words, and witnesses. Keep adding to it.
- Preserve messages you have lawful access to. Screenshots should show the sender, date, and time. Don't delete anything, even messages you sent.
- Report the harassment in writing if you can do so safely, and keep a copy. A written complaint shows when the employer knew.
- Be careful about recording conversations. California law generally prohibits recording a confidential conversation without the consent of everyone in it. Talk with us before you record anything.
- Don't sign a severance agreement or a new arbitration agreement without review. It may give up your claims or change where they're heard. See our free severance agreement review.
When we take a case, we can send the employer a written demand to preserve evidence, including emails, chat logs, text messages, and the investigation file. When you first talk with us, we help you sort out which messages, documents, and witnesses matter most.
You can see representative harassment and retaliation cases Attorney Bryant has filed and litigated, described by the claims asserted, on our California Litigation Experience page. Our office is in Fresno, and we represent employees across California.
Common questions
Does harassment have to be sexual to count?
No. Harassment because of your sex or gender, such as demeaning comments about women in the workplace, can be unlawful even if nothing about it is sexual in nature.
Can one incident be enough?
It can. Under California law, a single incident can create a hostile work environment if it is serious enough. Unwanted physical contact is a common example.
The person harassing me is a coworker, not my boss. Do I have a claim?
Possibly. The employer can be responsible for coworker harassment if it knew or should have known and didn't take prompt, appropriate action to stop it. That's one reason reporting matters.
Do I have to report to HR before I can bring a claim?
Reporting isn't always required, but it usually matters. It puts the employer on notice, can affect the employer's defenses, and creates a record. If reporting feels unsafe, talk with us about how to do it.
Can I be fired for complaining about harassment?
Firing or punishing an employee because of a harassment complaint is unlawful retaliation. Employers sometimes give another reason, which is why we look closely at timing and at whether that reason existed before you complained.
HR investigated and found no wrongdoing. Is my case over?
No. An internal finding doesn't decide your legal rights. We examine how the investigation was done, who was interviewed, and whether the conclusion fits the evidence.
I signed an arbitration agreement. Can I still go to court?
Possibly. Federal law lets employees alleging sexual harassment choose court over an arbitration agreement made before the dispute arose, subject to the limits described above. Bring us any agreement you signed.
How long do I have to act?
Generally three years to file with the Civil Rights Department under California law, but other deadlines can be shorter. Evidence also disappears over time. Contact us promptly.
Free Case Evaluation
If you were harassed at work, or punished after you reported it, tell us what happened. Call 559-985-0440 or use our contact form. An attorney will review your inquiry. Please don't send confidential documents or a detailed account through the form.
Attorney advertising. This page provides general information about California employment law and is not legal advice about your situation. Contacting Bryant Worker's Law, PC, 8050 N. Palm Ave., Ste. 300, Fresno, CA 93711, does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.