Despite extensive efforts to curtail it, sexual harassment continues to plague Maryland workplaces. This behavior can make a worker feel uncomfortable, threatened, and even endangered. No one deserves to go through that in their workplace.
Making matters worse, though, is the fact that those who report sexual harassment often end up being retaliated against by their employers. As a result, sexually harassed workers can be reassigned, demoted, subjected to reduced hours, or terminated as a result of denying unwanted sexual advances or reporting unacceptable behavior.
If that’s happened to you, then you need to find a way to hold your employer accountable while recovering compensation for the harm that’s been caused to you. But figuring out where to start can be tough. That’s why we want to spend the rest of this post looking at what you can do to position your sexual harassment or retaliation legal claim for success.
Steps to start building your sexual harassment case
Navigating a legal claim can be stressful to say the least, especially as you’re trying to cope with the realities of your newfound situation. But the following steps might help you build a foundation for your case, which could give you peace of mind:
- Document the harassment: Before you even get to the point of taking legal action, you should document each instance of sexually harassing behavior. Make sure you notate the date, time, and location of each event, writing down as much detail as possible. It’s also helpful to capture how the sexual harassment made you feel.
- Talk to your co-workers: Although you hope that the judge or jury will take you at your word when you say that you’ve been harassed or retaliated against, that may not be the reality of your situation. You can back your claims up with witness testimony, though, such as that of your co-workers. These individuals might’ve noticed other harassing or retaliatory behavior that’s consistent with your claims, or they may be victims themselves. Either way, their testimony can go a long way toward convincing a judge or jury. So, talk to these witnesses, write down their contact information and their accounts, and be sure to ask them any clarifying questions that may be necessary.
- Retain communications: How your employer responds to your complaints of sexual harassment could be crucial to your case. So, be sure to reduce your complaints to writing and keep any responses that you receive. You should also keep any harassing or retaliatory text messages and emails that are sent your way.
- Track your positive job performance: In most cases of retaliation, an employer argues that they took negative employment action because of an employee’s poor work performance or absenteeism. To avoid this, keep track of any complimentary emails, positive work appraisals, and anything else that shows that you’ve been a good employee.
- Follow everything up with an email: Employers often try to hide their wrongdoing by having conversations in-person or over the phone. Don’t let them get away with that. Instead, reduce everything to writing so that you create a paper trail of what was said.
Find accountability for the wrong that’s been done to you
You deserve to be safe at work. When your employer fails you, you need to be ready to take legal action. That’s the only way you’re going to find accountability and recover the compensation you deserve.
It’s not an easy road, but with support by your side you can get through the process stronger than when you started. If you want to learn more about how to do that, then please continue reading through our site.