Sexual Harassment Lawyer Los Angeles, CA
If someone at work has subjected you to unwanted sexual conduct, made your job conditional on tolerating their advances, or created an environment so uncomfortable that you dread going in each day, you have legal options. What happened was not your fault, and California law gives you the power to do something about it.
Our Los Angeles, CA sexual harassment lawyer at The Bloom Firm represents employees throughout Los Angeles County who have experienced quid pro quo harassment, hostile work environments, and retaliation for reporting misconduct. We handle these cases on contingency, which means you pay nothing unless we win compensation for you. Contact us for a free consultation to discuss what you’ve been through.
Why Choose The Bloom Firm for Sexual Harassment Cases in Los Angeles, CA?
We Only Represent Victims
The Bloom Firm does one thing: represent victims and plaintiffs in civil litigation. We have never defended an employer accused of harassment. We have never represented someone accused of misconduct. That focus shapes how we approach every case and whose interests we prioritize. When you hire us, there’s no ambiguity about whose side we’re on.
Sexual harassment cases pit employees against employers who often have significant resources and every incentive to make the problem go away quietly. Having attorneys who do this work exclusively, rather than switching sides depending on who’s paying, matters more than most people realize.
Lisa Bloom founded the firm in 2010 after practicing law for nearly two decades. She graduated from Yale Law School in 1986 and has been named a Super Lawyer every year since 2015. Her clients have included models harassed by photographers, actors targeted by producers, and musicians victimized by industry figures. Before opening The Bloom Firm, she hosted a live legal show on Court TV, and she continues to appear on CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC as a legal analyst on cases involving harassment and abuse.
Arick Fudali serves as Partner and Managing Attorney. He graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and worked as an Assistant State Attorney in Broward County, Florida before shifting to civil rights work. Licensed in California, New York, and Florida, he has represented harassment and abuse survivors since 2011. He regularly appears on CNN, Court TV, and News Nation discussing victims’ rights.
Our employment lawyer in Los Angeles, CA covers related matters including discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination that often accompany harassment claims.
Results for Harassment Victims
Our attorneys have recovered millions of dollars for clients in sexual harassment and employment cases. We have held accountable supervisors who abused their authority, companies that looked the other way, and high-profile individuals who believed their status protected them. When employers fail to address harassment or actively cover it up, we take them to court.
The Fee Arrangement
You pay nothing upfront. We work on contingency, collecting a fee only if we recover money for you. This structure exists because we believe financial circumstances should never prevent someone from pursuing justice after being harassed.
What Clients Say
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“If you have Lisa Bloom as your attorney, you will have a tireless advocate for you by your side. If you need the services she offers, hire her. She’s the best.” — Jill Harth, Client
Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.
Types of Sexual Harassment Cases We Handle in Los Angeles
Sexual harassment under California law covers a range of conduct. Here are the situations we see most often:
- Quid pro quo harassment. Your supervisor made clear, directly or indirectly, that your job, your promotion, your schedule, or your assignments depended on providing sexual favors. The power imbalance in these situations makes employees feel they have no choice. California law treats the demand itself as illegal, regardless of whether you complied or refused. We have handled cases where managers made explicit propositions and cases where the pressure was applied through implication and innuendo.
- Hostile work environment. The comments, the jokes, the way certain coworkers look at you, the images people share, the touching that happens in hallways and break rooms. None of it rises to an explicit demand, but all of it adds up. When sexual conduct becomes severe or pervasive enough to interfere with your ability to work, it creates a hostile environment that violates California law. A single incident can be enough if it’s sufficiently serious. More often, these cases involve patterns that accumulate over time.
- Retaliation. You reported harassment through proper channels. Instead of addressing the problem, your employer punished you. Your hours got cut. Your performance reviews turned negative. You were transferred, demoted, or terminated. California law prohibits this conduct, and retaliation claims sometimes produce larger damages than the underlying harassment. Our workplace harassment attorneys regularly handle retaliation alongside the original claims.
- Third-party harassment. The harasser doesn’t work for your employer. They’re a customer, a vendor, a client, or a contractor. But your employer knew about the behavior and failed to protect you. Servers, healthcare workers, retail employees, and hospitality staff face this constantly from people who feel entitled to treat them however they want. Employers who tolerate this conduct face liability.
- Digital harassment. The texts that come after hours. The emails with inappropriate content. The social media messages you never asked for. Harassment doesn’t stop being harassment because it happens through a phone or computer. These digital communications often provide the clearest evidence because they’re timestamped and difficult to deny.
- Gender-based harassment. Not all workplace harassment involves sexual propositions or explicit content. Sometimes it’s hostility based on gender: comments about women not belonging in certain roles, treatment designed to push someone out because of their sex, conduct that targets employees for not conforming to gender expectations. California law covers this sexual discrimination even when it lacks overt sexual content.
California Legal Requirements for Sexual Harassment
California’s protections for employees facing sexual harassment rank among the strongest in the country. Understanding them helps clarify why your employer may be liable for what happened.
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits sexual harassment by employers with five or more employees. FEHA requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment before it happens, investigate complaints promptly when they arise, and take corrective action that actually stops the conduct. The California Civil Rights Department enforces these requirements and investigates complaints.
One of FEHA’s most significant provisions makes employers strictly liable for harassment by supervisors. This means the company cannot escape responsibility by claiming management didn’t know what a supervisor was doing. The supervisor’s conduct is automatically attributed to the employer. For harassment by coworkers, employers face liability if they knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to act promptly.
California Government Code Section 12940 spells out these obligations in detail. It also prohibits retaliation against employees who report harassment or participate in investigations. Punishing someone for coming forward creates a separate legal violation.
Federal law provides additional protection through Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees. You may have claims under both state and federal law, and pursuing both can increase your potential recovery.
California gives you three years from the last act of harassment to file an administrative complaint. After three years, your claim may be permanently lost regardless of how strong the evidence is. Consulting an attorney sooner rather than later protects your options.
Important Aspects of a Los Angeles Sexual Harassment Case
Sexual harassment cases involve proving what happened and demonstrating your employer’s responsibility. Several elements consistently affect how these cases develop.
Preserving Evidence
Your case will depend significantly on what you can prove. Write down what happened while it’s fresh: dates, times, locations, exactly what was said or done, and who witnessed it. Save every text, email, voicemail, and photograph. Screenshot digital communications before they can be deleted. This evidence forms the foundation of your claim, and losing it weakens your position substantially. Many people don’t realize how quickly important steps need to be taken to protect their claims.
Reporting Internally
Most employers have harassment reporting procedures, typically through HR. Following them creates a record showing you notified the company and gave them a chance to respond. Report in writing when possible, keep copies of everything, and document how management responded. If your employer failed to investigate, conducted a superficial investigation, or allowed the harassment to continue, that failure strengthens your case.
Fear of Retaliation
The concern that reporting will make things worse stops many victims from coming forward. That fear is understandable given how power typically operates in workplaces. But California law explicitly protects employees who report harassment, and retaliation itself creates a separate claim. If your employer punishes you for reporting, the damages from that retaliation may exceed the damages from the original harassment.
Administrative Process
Before filing a lawsuit under FEHA, you generally need a right-to-sue notice from the California Civil Rights Department. This step has deadlines and procedural requirements that can trip up people trying to handle cases on their own. Getting it wrong can damage or delay your case. Our attorneys handle this process regularly and ensure your filing protects all available claims.
Settlement and Trial
Most sexual harassment cases resolve through settlement rather than trial. Settlements provide faster resolution, certainty about outcomes, and privacy that trials cannot offer. But some cases require litigation because the employer refuses to acknowledge wrongdoing or offers compensation that doesn’t reflect the harm caused. We prepare every case as if it’s going to trial because that preparation creates leverage in settlement negotiations and ensures we’re ready if negotiations fail.
The Emotional Toll
Sexual harassment causes real psychological harm. Anxiety, depression, sleep problems, difficulty concentrating, and strained relationships are common among victims. California law allows recovery for emotional distress, and documenting these effects through therapy records, medical appointments, and personal journals can support a substantial damages claim. Cases involving job discrimination alongside harassment may support additional recovery.
Contact The Bloom Firm
If you have experienced sexual harassment in Los Angeles, our attorneys have helped many victims hold their harassers and employers accountable while recovering meaningful compensation for what they went through.
We provide free consultations to evaluate your situation. We work on contingency, so you pay nothing unless we recover money for you. There is no financial risk in finding out where you stand and what your options might be.
Harassment creates stress and uncertainty that spills into every part of your life. You deserve answers. Contact The Bloom Firm today to discuss your case with attorneys who will fight for you.
Types of Sexual Harassment Cases We Handle
Sexual harassment at work can take many forms, and it does not always look the same from one situation to another. Some cases involve direct requests, while others develop through repeated conduct that creates a hostile environment. Your Los Angeles, CA sexual harassment lawyer can help you stand up for your rights. The Bloom Firm is one of the largest victim’s rights law firms in the country, and we’re ready to use our resources to help you next. Below are several types of sexual harassment matters we handle. Read on, and contact us today.
- Quid Pro Quo Harassment: This occurs when job benefits such as promotions, raises, or continued employment are tied to unwanted conduct. A supervisor or person in authority may make these requests directly or imply them through their actions.
- Hostile Work Environment Harassment: Repeated comments, jokes, or conduct of a sexual nature can create an uncomfortable or offensive workplace. As your workplace sexual harassment attorney can explain, even without a direct job threat, the environment itself may support a claim.
- Harassment By Supervisors: When a manager engages in inappropriate conduct, the impact can be more serious due to their authority. These cases often involve pressure on the employee and fear of speaking up.
- Harassment By Coworkers: Inappropriate behavior is not limited to supervisors. Coworkers may also create a hostile work environment, and employers may be responsible if they fail to address the issue.
- Harassment By Clients Or Customers: Some employees face misconduct from people outside the company, such as clients or customers. In these cases, you can still benefit from having a worker harassment lawyer on your side. Employers may still have a duty to act when this behavior affects their staff.
- Verbal Harassment And Comments: Repeated remarks about appearance, suggestive jokes, or inappropriate conversations can form the basis of a claim. The focus is often on how frequent and severe the conduct is over time.
- Unwanted Physical Contact: Physical actions such as touching, blocking movement, or other unwanted contact may support a claim. These situations are taken seriously due to the direct nature of the conduct.
- Digital And Online Harassment: Messages, emails, or social media interactions can also be part of a claim. These communications may create the same type of hostile environment as in-person behavior, so contact your LA sexual harassment lawyer today.
- Retaliation After Reporting Harassment: Employees who report misconduct should not face negative job actions. If someone is disciplined, demoted, or terminated after making a complaint, it may point to retaliation.
- Failure To Address Complaints: Employers are expected to respond to reports and take reasonable steps to stop the behavior. When complaints are ignored or handled poorly, you’ll need your workplace sexual misconduct lawyer to make sure you’re heard.
Contact Our Team
At The Bloom Firm, we use our decades of experience to take a direct and practical approach to these matters. We review the facts, explain your options, and help you decide what steps to take next. If you believe you have experienced harassment at work, reach out to our team to discuss your situation with a Los Angeles sexual harassment lawyer who’s ready to listen.