According to the Los Angeles Times, a state judicial watchdog commission has charged California Court of Appeal Justice Jeffrey Johnson with nine counts of misconduct, including sexual harassment. Justice Johnson allegedly squeezed a female justice's breast and "told...
Exclusively Employment Law
Harassment
When the Harasser Is a Customer, Client, or Trespasser
Under California law, it is unlawful for an employee to sexually harass another employee. A less known fact is that under California law, it is also unlawful for a non-employee (such as a client, customer, or trespasser) to sexually harass an employee. And in certain...
In the News: Employers’ Responses to Sexual Harassment
Earlier this month, the University of Massachusetts - Amherst's Center for Employment Equity released a study entitled Employers' Responses to Sexual Harassment. Among other things, the study finds as follows: 1. Approximately 5 million employees are sexually harassed...
In the News: Prison Captain in Susanville Charged with Groping
According to The Sacramento Bee, Christopher James Lewis, a captain at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California, has been charged with groping a woman. The Sacramento Bee also notes that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has "paid...
In the News: Sexual Harassment and Female Fast-Food Employees
USA Today reports that according to the Washington D.C. firm Hart Research Associates, "[f]orty percent of female fast-food workers have been sexually harassed on the job" and "[m]ost affected are African-American and Latina women." Read the full article entitled...
In the News: California Lawmakers Respond to #MeToo Movement
According to The Sacramento Bee, the legislative proposals that have "emerged in response to the #MeToo movement" are "expansive and ambitious." "[M]ore than a dozen proposals now await[ ] a signature or veto from Gov. Jerry Brown." Read the full article, entitled...
In the News: Women and the USDA’s Forest Service
According to Outside Magazine, women who work at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service "face not just aggressive come-ons and groping, but also an employment structure that remains intricately rigged against them and a complaint process designed to turn...
Is Your Employer Providing Sexual Harassment Prevention Training?
In California, employers with 50 or more full-time, part-time, or temporary employees or independent contractors must provide sexual harassment prevention training regularly to their supervisors. The objectives of this training are: (a) to assist employers in changing...
Taking the “Sexual Desire” Out of Sexual Harassment
California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (the "FEHA") prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. Notably, the California legislature amended the FEHA in 2014 so that it now states as follows: "Sexually harassing conduct need not be motivated by sexual desire."...
In the News: UC Berkeley Suspends Professor for Sexual Harassment
According to The San Francisco Chronicle, in an article today entitled "UC Berkeley suspends professor after 'pattern of sexual harassment,'" Professor Nezar AlSayyad, a renowned architecture professor, has been suspended without pay "for sexually harassing a graduate...