New Jersey sexual harassment lawsuit

Are you the victim of sexual harassment? If so, our sexual harassment lawyers are here to assist you in navigating the court system and pursuing your sexual harassment lawsuit.

It is illegal for an individual to make sexual or harassing comments based on your gender. Sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination and gender harassment. The illegal sexual comments are being made by the harasser based on your gender. Therefore, it is covered by the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination makes it illegal for an individual to make sexual advances that are not welcomed, request any type of sexual relations, make any physical contact with you that is deemed to be of a sexual nature (touching your body, rubbing your back, inappropriate hugs or kiss) or to make any type of sexual comments either verbally and in writing (email, text, letter, etc.)

There are two different types of sexual harassment lawsuit claims in New Jersey that are protected by the Law Against Discrimination.

  • Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment. Quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs when a supervisor, agent or employee requests sexual favors or a sexual demands as a condition of your employment at the job. This type of sexual harassment is typically seen when the harasser is trying to obtain a sexual favor in return for not being fired, receiving a promotion or raise/bonus. This type of conduct is illegal and it exposes both the company and the harasser to liability under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
  • Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment. This type of sexual harassment occurs when you are harassed by way of sexual, abusive or offensive conduct of the harasser. This type of harassment will create an unlawful workplace if the conduct is either “severe” or “pervasive” pursuant to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. “Severe” means that the conduct is so offensive that a single occurrence would make a reasonable person believe that the workplace was hostile. “Pervasive” means that the conduct happens so frequently that the workplace becomes hostile, although a single occurrence of the conduct may not be deemed severe, but since it happened frequently it is illegal.

Filing With The EEOC

In the State of New Jersey, you are not required to file with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) or the Division on Civil Rights (“DCR”). You can contact a sexual harassment lawyer to pursue a claim in the New Jersey Superior Court immediately. You do not have to wait for the EEOC or DCR to investigate the matter.

Our sexual harassment lawyers handle these matters frequently. The process for our firm begins with an initial meeting where we will discuss everything that has happened to you and obtain all of the facts from you about what happened. We will prepare a letter to send to the harasser and to the company that employed the harasser. We will provide two weeks for them to respond to us and see whether we can resolve the matter without the need for a lawsuit. In the event that the matter does not resolve itself based on the letter, we will proceed with filing a lawsuit for you.

No Fee Unless You Win

We handle all sexual harassment matteron a contingent fee. We do not get paid unless we are able to recover a payment for you. We also cover the costs associated with the litigation so that you can have the peace of mind to know that you will not have to front thousands of dollars to proceed with your litigation.

You are not alone in the fight against the harasser or your company. We will be the person in front of the matter and will handle everything on your behalf so that you do not need to speak with the harasser or the Company. We will make you will comfortable and safe throughout the entire proceedings. We have heard from several clients that they were hesitant to file a lawsuit because they could not stand to see the harasser again. If that is the case, we can work to limit any type of involvement and request that the Court enter an protective order making sure that the harasser will not be able to contact you. We can also request to have the harasser removed from your deposition so that you feel comfortable testifying.

We’re Here To Help With Your Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

You are entitled to damages if you prevail in your sexual harassment lawsuit. The damages are for lost wages (in the event that your wages were impacted), emotional distress damages and punitive damages. Emotional distress damages are to compensate you for the emotional impact that the sexual harassment had on you while you had to endure it and for the emotional damages that you incurred after the sexual harassment stopped. Many victims of sexual harassment take years to recover from the sexual harassment and some never fully recover.

A jury can award you with monetary damages for this emotional distress. Although there is no dollar amount that can ever make you whole, this is the only way that the law contemplates trying to compensate you for the emotional damages. The last category of damages are punitive damages. This category of damages is to punish the harasser and/or employer for the sexual harassment that you had to endure. These damages are also to punish harasser and/or employer so that changes are made and this type of conduct never happens again in the future.

The punitive damages are related to the amount of damages that you receive for the emotional distress and lost wages. The law typically sets a cap on the amount of punitive damages at ten times the amount of the compensatory damages (lost pay and emotional distress). Finally, we can apply to the court for reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and costs that were incurred as part of your lawsuit. The benefit to this is for you is that we can reduce the amount of any contingent fee after we receive an order for the court awarding attorneys’ fees and costs.

Castronovo & McKinney, LLC helps clients with their sexual harassment lawsuits throughout New Jersey including Bergen County, Essex County, Middlesex County, and Morris County as well as the cities Hackensack, Newark, New Brunswick, and Morristown.