You Made a Harassment Claim at Work. Now What Happens?

If you are being harassed or discriminated against at work, you may have decided that the time is right to make a complaint. If you do take that step, what happens next? What can you expect—and what happens if absolutely nothing comes as a result of your complaint?

Keep Evidence

One important thing to remember is, if you make a harassment complaint, to maintain copies of whatever you give to your company, for yourself. In other words, if you are showing human resources the harassing emails you received from a co-worker, make sure that you also have a duplicate copy of those records for yourself.

Internal Procedures

Almost every company will have some kind of procedure that details what happens when a worker makes a harassment complaint, and in almost every case that policy or procedure is public information. You may have even signed or agreed to it in a document you signed when you started working there.

The Harasser

Many people who are harassed may have concern that the harasser may be punished. Sometimes, harassers are friends or long time co-workers, and while you want the harassing behavior to stop, you might not want someone to lose their job over your complaint.

You unfortunately have no way to avoid whatever consequences might befall the person who harassed you, and discipline is up to the company. Some companies may opt for the harasser to attend sensitivity training, or put them on probation instead of outright firing them.

What if Nothing Happens?

It is possible that the company finds no merit to your complaint—that they cannot substantiate that what you say happened to you, actually happened.

Many companies say they did an investigation and found nothing, when in fact, they never conducted any investigation at all—the lack of a thorough investigation of your complaints of harassment by itself, may be legal grounds for you to sue your employer for harassment.

That’s why if you do follow up with your supervisors or human resources department, you should do so in writing—so you have proof that you followed up, and that nothing was done, or your concerns were never addressed.

Filing With the EEOC

You also have the option of filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In fact, making a complaint with the EEOC is mandatory before you file a lawsuit, in many cases, and there are strict timelines to do so. You don’t need to have an employment discrimination and harassment attorney to file an EEOC complaint, but it certainly helps.

The EEOC will investigate the case and whatever it does, you still have the option of suing your employer for harassment and discrimination, if you feel that the problem has not been sufficiently addressed or if the behavior continues.

Come see us if you’re being harassed at work to help guide you through the reporting process. Contact the San Jose employment attorneys at the Costanzo Law Firm today for help.