Sexual harassment has no place at work or anywhere you are trying to earn a living and feel safe. If you have faced unwelcome sexual advances, sexual pressure, inappropriate conduct, or a hostile work environment, you may have strong protections under federal law and California law. At Westview Law, our sexual harassment lawyers have a combined experience of over 3 decades holding employers accountable for harassment, retaliation, sexual abuse, and other workplace wrongdoing.
Sexual harassment is any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that creates a hostile or offensive work environment or affects your employment under sexual harassment laws. It can include unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, inappropriate touching, offensive remarks, or sexually explicit messages involving sexual acts. This behavior does not have to be physical to be unlawful conduct.
Harassment in the workplace can come from an employer, supervisor, coworker, or even a third party, such as a client or vendor. If the conduct is severe or continues over time, it may constitute sexual harassment under Title VII and federal and California law, especially when it involves an employer’s sexual advances.
We understand how deeply these situations can affect your career, finances, and well-being, and we are here to protect your rights and pursue the compensation you deserve, including lost wages, emotional distress, and other damages. If you have been sexually harassed, our sexual harassment attorneys at Westview Law can help you understand your rights and take the right legal action, including offering a free consultation.
A sexual harassment lawyer helps you understand your rights and guides you through each step of the legal process. It usually starts with an initial consultation, where you share your experience and the lawyer evaluates your case, including whether it involves employment discrimination. They will ask simple questions, review your details, and explain your options in clear terms as they assess your harassment claim.
If you decide to proceed, the lawyer gathers evidence and builds a legal strategy. This may include collecting messages, reports, witness statements, or workplace records, including evidence from human resources.
They then represent you in negotiations or, if needed, in court, including handling employment discrimination cases. Many cases are resolved through settlements, but your lawyer will be ready to fight for you if it goes further. Throughout the process, they keep things clear, support you, and work to get you a fair outcome.
Both federal and California laws protect employees from sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, it is unlawful for an employer to allow harassment based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity, including discrimination based on these traits.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces this law and safeguards employees from retaliation for reporting harassment. California law offers even more protections and makes it mandatory for employers to take reasonable steps to stop and deal with harassment at work, especially when it adversely affects employees.
Under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), employers with five or more employees must prevent and correct sexual harassment, including unwanted advances, inappropriate remarks, and a hostile work environment, and may not retaliate against employees who report such conduct. This protection also extends to job applicants and conduct involving a person’s sex. If your employer knew or should have known about the harassment and did nothing, they can be held liable.
Our sexual harassment lawyers at Westview Law have spent over four decades cumulatively helping employees facing all forms of sexual misconduct, including conduct tied to a protected characteristic or victim’s sex:
This type of harassment happens when job benefits like promotions, raises, or continued employment are tied to sexual favors. We make sure you understand this is illegal under the Civil Rights Act and fight to protect your career, especially when it involves a female employee.
This includes repeated unwanted sexual advances, offensive remarks, inappropriate jokes, or behavior that makes your workplace intimidating or uncomfortable, including physical harassment. Our team helps you address the problem and works to create a safer environment, even when dealing with conduct by an individual employee or supervisor.
Any unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature falls under this category, including other unwelcome conduct. We take these situations seriously and act quickly to hold the responsible parties accountable.
Offensive emails, text messages, or other electronic communications with sexual content are never acceptable. We guide you in gathering evidence and provide advice on the best next steps, especially when dealing with conduct from a coworker.
This category covers any unwelcome conduct based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity from supervisors, coworkers, or third parties, including discrimination based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. We provide support every step of the way so you don’t have to face such situations alone.
Our sexual harassment attorneys at Westview Law guide you through every step of your claim and protect your rights. We can help by:
Reviewing the facts, evidence, and timeline to determine if your experience qualifies as sexual harassment under federal or California law.
Collecting emails, messages, witness statements, and workplace records to support your case.
Communicating with your employer or HR on your behalf to protect you from retaliation or pressure.
Submitting claims with the EEOC, CRD, or courts and ensuring all deadlines are met.
Negotiating settlements or representing you in court to recover lost wages, emotional distress, and other damages.
Hiring a sexual harassment lawyer can make a meaningful difference when you’re dealing with a stressful and often overwhelming situation. An experienced attorney brings expert guidance and strategic advice, helping you understand your rights, evaluate your options, and build a strong case from the start. They know how to gather the right evidence, work through workplace policies, and handle communications in a way that protects your position and strengthens your claim.
Beyond strategy, a lawyer is a dedicated advocate focused on protecting your rights and interests every step of the way. They help ensure you’re treated fairly, shield you from intimidation or retaliation, and handle negotiations or legal proceedings on your behalf, including cases involving an adverse employment decision.
With professional support, you significantly increase your chances of reaching a favorable outcome. This may include securing compensation, achieving workplace accountability, or both, for individuals facing these challenges.
If you have experienced workplace sexual harassment, you may be entitled to financial or other forms of compensation. Our experienced sexual harassment lawyers at Westview Law help victims pursue recovery for:
The timeline for sexual harassment claims can vary, but most follow a similar structure. It typically begins with an initial consultation and case assessment, which usually takes about 1–2 weeks. During this stage, your lawyer listens to your experience, reviews any early evidence, and helps you understand your options. It’s a quick but important step that sets the direction for everything that follows.
Next comes evidence collection and strategy planning, which often takes 2–3 weeks. Your attorney gathers documents, witness statements, and other key details to build a strong case. After that, the negotiation or litigation process begins, and this phase is where timelines can vary depending on complexity. Some cases resolve in a few months through settlement, while others may take longer if they go to court, but your lawyer will keep you informed every step of the way.
Timing decides more sexual harassment cases than people expect, and acting sooner rather than later can make a real difference. There is often a sense of urgency in decision-making, especially because legal claims are tied to strict statutory deadlines. Missing these deadlines can limit or even prevent your ability to take action, so speaking with a lawyer early helps protect your rights and keeps your options open.
Acting quickly also helps preserve important evidence and witness testimony while details are still fresh and accessible. Emails, messages, and firsthand accounts are much easier to gather early on, which can strengthen your case.
Beyond the legal side, delaying action can take a toll emotionally and professionally, as ongoing stress may affect your well-being and work life. Taking that first step sooner can help you regain a sense of control and start moving forward.
Most people who call us have never spoken to a lawyer about anything, let alone about something this personal. Here is what actually happens after that first call, stage by stage, and what tends to push a claim’s value up or down along the way.
You tell it once, in private, to an attorney, not to a screener. We ask what happened, how often, who else saw it, whether you reported it, and what the company did after you did. That last answer matters more than most people expect: an employer that investigated properly and one that shrugged are in very different legal positions.
Screenshots of texts and DMs, the HR complaint and whatever response came back, your personnel file, calendars, and the names of coworkers who saw the same behavior. We also look for a pattern of other employees treated the same way, because in harassment cases the pattern is often the proof. If you still have access to a work account, we tell you what to preserve early, since access tends to vanish the moment things get formal.
Most FEHA claims start with a complaint to the California Civil Rights Department and a right-to-sue notice. With the file organized, we send the employer a demand that sets out the liability and the number. A meaningful share of cases end here, quietly, because the company reads the file and decides it does not want a jury reading it too.
We file, then take depositions of the harasser, the HR investigator, and the decision-makers. California’s Silenced No More Act (SB 331) limits how far an employer can go in demanding your silence about harassment or discrimination as a condition of settling. That is worth knowing before you sign anything anyone puts in front of you.
Most cases settle. The ones that settle well are the ones the other side believes we will try. Resolution can mean a negotiated settlement, a jury verdict, or, in some situations, terms that change how the company handles complaints going forward.
Two claims with similar facts can be worth very different amounts. The largest factors are how severe and how sustained the conduct was, what the employer did once it knew, and what it cost you: wages lost if you were fired or felt forced to quit, plus the emotional harm, which in these cases is often the biggest single component. California courts can also award punitive damages where an employer acted with malice or oppression, and a prevailing employee can recover attorney’s fees under FEHA.
Documentation moves the number too. A complaint you can prove you made, contemporaneous notes, therapy records, and witnesses who will speak all raise the floor. Time is the quiet variable: evidence decays, witnesses move on, and deadlines close.
Illustrative only. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, and every case is different. Nothing above is a prediction or guarantee about the value of any particular claim.
Westview Law handles sexual harassment cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we recover for you. There is no hourly bill and no retainer to find before you can get help, and the first consultation is free.
That structure is deliberate. Someone who has just lost a job, or is still walking into the building where it happened, should not have to fund a lawsuit out of pocket to be taken seriously. We do not publish a fixed percentage, because the right terms depend on the case. We walk you through the exact numbers before you sign anything.
You are not handing this to a call center. At Westview Law you work with named California trial attorneys, and every bar number below can be checked on the State Bar website in about ten seconds.
David founded Westview Law and leads its litigation practice. He earned his J.D. from Loyola Law School and has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star for Southern California three years running (2022, 2023, and 2024), a recognition reserved for a small share of attorneys under 40. He is licensed and in good standing with the State Bar of California, Bar #326605.
A veteran trial lawyer with a J.D. from the USC Gould School of Law and decades of experience in high-stakes, complex litigation. State Bar of California #138407.
Earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where he graduated Order of the Coif, the top of his class, and brings a background in federal civil-rights enforcement. State Bar of California #319557.
Employers and their insurers pay more when they believe the other side can win in front of a jury. We want to be straight about what the results below are: they come from complex commercial and business-litigation trials, not from sexual harassment cases. We show them because they demonstrate the trial ability standing behind your claim: the same lawyers, the same courtroom. Not because we are promising a harassment verdict of any size.
Breach of contract and fraud, tried to a jury in 2024 and recognized among the Top 100 Verdicts in California (independently listed by TopVerdict). Won by David M. Safvati.
A complex commercial trial that produced a $146M jury verdict ($73M compensatory plus $73M in punitive damages) and included cross-examining the board chairman of an international conglomerate. Lead trial counsel: Paul S. Marks.
A stipulated judgment in a real-estate investment fraud matter, resolved on the eve of trial. This is a result the firm reports from its own records; unlike the two verdicts above, it is not independently listed by a third-party service.
These are commercial-litigation results, shown as evidence of our attorneys’ trial experience rather than as sexual harassment outcomes. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any future case.
At Westview Law, we combine decades of experience with a truly client-focused approach to support employees facing sexual harassment. We understand how personal these situations can be, so we take the time to listen, build a strategy around your unique circumstances, and guide you with clarity every step of the way.
Our team brings over three decades of focused experience handling workplace harassment and discrimination cases. This depth of knowledge allows us to anticipate challenges and guide your case with confidence from start to finish.
We have helped many clients secure favorable outcomes, whether through negotiated settlements or litigation. Our case results come from standing firm and pursuing the justice our clients deserve.
No two cases are the same, and we treat yours with the attention it deserves. We build the strategy around your situation, and we measure each step against what you actually want out of the case.
If you’re feeling uncomfortable, pressured, or unsafe in your workplace due to sexual harassment, you deserve support and clear answers. At Westview Law, we’re here to listen, guide you through your options, and stand up for your rights with confidence and care. Whether you’re unsure about your next step or ready to take action, our team of sexual harassment lawyers in California is prepared to support you every step of the way. Reach out today for a confidential consultation and take the first step toward protecting your future.
Our sexual harassment and employment lawyers have over 40 years of combined experience helping victims of sexual harassment hold employers and harassers accountable. Drawing from these years of experience, they’ve answered some of the commonly asked questions about sexual harassment in the workplace.
Most sexual harassment lawyers, including Westview Law, work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless you recover compensation.
No. California law protects employees from retaliation, including wrongful termination, demotion, or other adverse actions, for reporting harassment or participating in an investigation.
Start by writing down what happened and gathering any evidence, like messages or witnesses. Then report it (if safe), speak to a lawyer, and follow the legal process to file your case.
You need proof such as texts, emails, witness statements, or a record of what happened. Any document showing the behavior or its impact on your work can help your case.
No, you can talk to a lawyer first before reporting it at work. A lawyer can guide you on the safest and best steps to take.
Yes, they can also handle other workplace issues like unfair treatment, retaliation, or gender discrimination. They help protect your rights and take legal action if needed.
Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and regulations vary by jurisdiction and may change over time, so you should consult a qualified sexual harassment attorney directly for advice regarding your specific situation. Past examples, case studies, or hypothetical scenarios are illustrative only and do not guarantee similar results.
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David M. Safvati
Founding Partner
Paul S. Marks
Of Counsel
Taylor Markey
Of Counsel
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