Are you a victim of Sexual Harassment?
Where do you draw the line between friendly banter and sexual misconduct? The determining factor for you, as the object of that behavior, is whether or not you feel comfortable with it. If you feel threatened in any way or have asked repeatedly for the behavior to stop and it hasn’t, you may have a case for sexual discrimination. For that, you need a Dallas discrimination attorney to help you, namely Dan Atkerson. He’ll stop the harassment and make sure you’re compensated for your distress.
A co-worker asking you out on a date is not ethical, but it’s also not normally viewed as a case of sexual harassment. In fact, many people meet their future life partners on the job. Those are the happy ending tales. The not-so-happy ending stories are the ones where the first refusal is not taken graciously and leads to other attempts, even insults and outright slander against the target party. Unfortunately, there are a lot of truly sick people out there who have no relationship skills and even less respect for the opposite sex. They are some of the worst sexual predators there are, because in so many cases no one does anything about it. They just wait for the behavior to stop.
Sexual harassment towards one individual does eventually cease when the perpetrator moves on to another target. That might offer a sense of relief to the original victim, but the scars from the experience will still be there, and someone else will now be subjected to the same type of sexual advancements. The party doing the harassing won’t stop, but may become more aggressive after getting away with it the first time. This is how simple situations escalate into serious problems. We’ve seen cases that started out as a dating proposal turn into physical and mental abuse that could have been avoided.
The laws on sexual harassment are very clear. Unwanted advances or sly side comments count. You do not have to put up with them, whether you’re a woman or a man. In many ways, sexual harassment is also discrimination, because you’re singled out by your sex as the object of someone’s attention. It’s not okay, it’s not cute, and it’s certainly not something you should just let go. In his experience as a Dallas discrimination attorney, Dan Atkerson has seen judgments and settlements of six figures awarded to victims of sexual harassment. The next recipient of one of those awards could be you.
Call our office today and tell us your story. There’s no reason to go another day feeling the way that you feel. Not only are you allowing an illegal activity to take place, but you’re settling for less in your own life. Why should you feel demeaned or dissatisfied with your job because someone else has picked you as their target? There’s no reason for it, and Dan Atkerson can stop it. Contact Mr. Atkerson at (214) 383-3606 or danatkerson@atkersonlaw.com, and he will tell you how.
