When you show up to your California job, you have a right to feel comfortable and secure. If someone impacts your comfort level by sexually harassing you in your place of employment, you maintain the right to call attention to the treatment.
According to Mercury News, many people who come forward with allegations of work-related sexual harassment face retaliation or termination after doing so. Your chance of experiencing retaliation or termination after reporting sexual harassment is also higher when you are female. While women currently comprise less than half, or 47%, of the American workforce, they file more than 80% of the nation’s sexual harassment claims.
Termination after reporting sexual harassment
A study on how often sexual harassment claimants experience termination after reporting the behavior revealed that 64% of those who made claims lost their jobs within one year of doing so. The study reviewed about 64,000 sexual harassment claims made between 2012 and 2016. The percentage of those fired after making their claims is concerning. However, the number of sexual harassment claimants who had their employers retaliate against them after making claims was even higher.
Retaliation after reporting sexual harassment
The study also revealed that 68% of American employees who make sexual harassment claims have their employers retaliate against them in some way after doing so. In addition to facing termination as a form of retaliation, others faced demotion, reassignment and other types of retaliation in response to their actions.
Employers who fire or retaliate against their workers after they make allegations of sexual harassment may face additional sanctions for their actions.
