Sexual Harassment in the workplace is a serious legal offense. The more the harassment causes a disturbance in the workplace the more liable the employer can be. In addition, no inter workplace decisions can legally be made based on attraction or based on the person’s sex.
Sexual Harassment can be defined as any unwanted and unpleasant behavior in relation to one’s gender. This can include anything from participating in coarse language and rude talk remarks regarding gender, making obscene gestures, displaying provocative sexual material in the workplace, to full-on sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and/or assault is deemed Sexual Harassment. You do not even necessarily have to be the intended recipient of this type of behavior in order for it to legally constitute Sexual Harassment.
NYC Sexual Harassment & Workplace Hostility Laws
Sexual Harassment is prohibited under both federal and state law. Specifically, the New York City Human Rights (NYCHRL), located in Title 8 of the city’s Administrative Code, protects New Yorkers from Sexual Harassment by allowing for a civil action to stop discriminatory harassment and providing both civil and equitable remedies.

If you have been or are suffering from Sexual Harassment in the workplace, you should first attempt to follow your employer’s guidelines for reporting the conduct, if you feel safe enough to do so. Both the NYCHRL and the NYSHRL protect you from any form of Retaliation for reporting incidents of Sexual Harassment.

The next step is to immediately consult with an attorney experienced in combating workplace hostility to pursue filing federal, state, or city complaints of Sexual Harassment against your employer. Federally, a Sexual Harassment complaint must be filed within 180 days of the last incident of harassment. However, New York law is more gracious. Until 2019, the time limit for Sexual Harassment claims was a year, but now thanks to the 2019 updates to Sexual Harassment laws in New York, the time limit for Sexual Harassment claims under the NYCHRL and the NYSHRL is now three years from the date of the last incident of Sexual Harassment.

But still, it is important to act sooner rather than later, when evidence is plentiful, and memories are freshest. For Sexual Harassment cases, it is very important for you to collect any physical evidence of the occurrence(s), as well as a log of each incident, and documentation of any communication between you and your employer concerning the occurrence. Without good documentation, employers can argue that they did not know the Sexual Harassment took place in the workplace because it was not brought to their attention.

Many Sexual Harassment victims assume the weight of workplace hostility and as a result job performance and health begins to deteriorate. If you are a victim of Sexual Harassment at work, however, you do not have to tackle these issues alone. Allow Shalom Law and its legal team to help you.
The attorneys at Shalom Law, PLLC have years of successful experience advocating for the rights of employees like you in a vast array of Employment matters in both New York State and Federal Courts, all of which has allowed us to thoroughly understand and sympathize with what victims of Sexual Harassment in the workplace undergo.
Shalom Law is dedicated to putting an end to unlawful conduct in the workplace, and to ensuring that those who have been victimized acquire just compensation for what they have been through. Contact our office at (718) 971-9474 today to have your confidential consultation.

It is an unyielding and unwavering belief at Shalom Law that everyone has the right to a workplace without harassment and abuse. Our legal team is honored to take on the fight on behalf of Sexual Harassment victims to ensure employers are held responsible for inadequately preventing or flat-out allowing Sexual Harassment and