Supervisor Harassment

Harassment at work is often committed by co-workers and in most instances, by supervisors. Supervisors are often tasked to manage employees and they are given certain powers in pursuance to the best interest of the business. However, the exercise of powers sometimes exceeds and often results in supervisor harassment cases. As a result, employer is made vicariously liable for unlawful harassment committed by its supervisors.

Our Los Angeles sexual harassment attorney represents employees who are harassed by their supervisors. Our team of skilled employment attorneys helps victims of workplace harassment to pursue their claims and cases against these abusive supervisors.

Employers are vicariously liable for acts committed by a supervisor. Therefore, it is essential to know whether the person engaged in unlawful harassment is a supervisor or not.

According to the EEOC guideline, a person who meets the following criteria may be considered as a supervisor:

• One who has authority to recommend actions that affect an employee’s status, such as hiring, firing, or demoting
• One who directs employee’s daily work, including workload, assignments, and eligibility for training
• If the person is not the actual supervisor but the employee reasonably believes the person has authority over him or perceives the person as powerful enough to affect the employee’s position

While federal employment statutes does not define the term “supervisor”, several Supreme Court decisions have given light to its definition. The court has ruled that the determination of whether the harasser is a supervisor or not depends on the job function and not on the job title.

A supervisor is one who is:

• Authorized to recommend or undertake tangible employment decisions affecting employees; or
• Authorized to direct the employee's daily activities at work
• A tangible employment decisions are those which changes an employee’s status on a significant level. This may include decisions to fire, hire, promote, demote or reassign an employee
• A person who temporarily directs another’s work activity is deemed a supervisor for that time. Hence, if that individual harasses another during that period, employer may still be held liable
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Our expert California sexual harassment lawyer is knowledgeable with application of state and federal laws in sexual harassment cases at the workplace, including FEHA and EEOC claims. With more than 15 years of experience in handling employment cases, we have successfully represented thousands of clients in Los Angeles and other parts of California.

We also assist employers on how to draft and implement anti-sexual harassment guidelines and policies, as well as prevent these violations from occurring in the workplace.

Call us at our toll-free number and avail of our free case evaluation.