Do I Have a Sexual Harassment Case if I Agreed to a Favor in Return for a Raise?
The foundation for a sexual harassment or assault case is often consent. Sometimes a person may feel like they made a mistake having sex with someone, but it can be hard to classify that situation as actionable if consent was freely given on both sides. Does that same dynamic apply to the workplace? Is it still sexual harassment or assault if both sides give consent?
Understanding Consent
In the workplace, the idea of consent is not always cut and dry. For example, when both parties consent to an office affair, then it would be difficult for one party to claim sexual harassment or assault. However, if one party gives consent to an affair because they are told it is the only way they can get a raise or they are tricked into believing that giving consent is the right thing to do, then that could be classified as an instance of sexual harassment.
Establishing Consent
Establishing consent, or the lack thereof, in a sexual harassment case needs to be more than just a he said, she said situation. If you want to establish that you did not willingly give consent, then you need to make a log or recordings of the conversations you had with your attacker prior to the incident taking place. It would also help if you had witnesses come forth and show that the attacker has a pattern of creating a false consent and using that to get sexual favors. Without some sort of evidence or proof of a trend, then the case becomes one person’s word against another.
Do I Have A Case?
If you never had any intention on giving consent for a sexual act that lead to a raise, but you were tricked or otherwise convinced to give consent, then you could have a case for sexual harassment or assault. It is important for you to record and/or write down all of the information you can remember regarding that incident and any other encounters with that attacker, and do what you can to collect other information that would strengthen your story.
Our law firm has experience in helping people to file sexual harassment cases in difficult situations. Our attorneys are ready to review your case and give you an honest assessment of the information you have collected. If you were tricked into giving consent in the workplace to get a raise or promotion, then contact one of our sexual harassment lawyers to find out what options you have for filing a claim.