Dentist

Sexual harassment is a serious and sensitive issue in the workplace, including dental offices. Dentists must understand their responsibilities under California’s strict laws against sexual harassment. As a dentist, you must take proactive measures to prevent inappropriate behavior.

Maintaining a respectful and professional environment in the dental office is essential for the well-being of employees and patients. You could face a sexual harassment lawsuit for sexually inappropriate behavior towards colleagues or employees.

Typical forms of sexual harassment include sexual assault, displaying sexually inappropriate material, and unwelcome sexual advances. The outcome of a sexual harassment case will depend on the specific facts and evidence presented.

If the victim wins their lawsuit, the court can order you to compensate them for their damages. Additionally, you risk facing severe discipline on your professional license. If you face sexual harassment allegations in San Diego, CA, you will enjoy our services at Empower Sexual Harassment Attorneys.

Sexual Harassment in the Dental Practice

Sexual harassment is a lingering concern in many sectors, including healthcare. The dental field involves a high degree of personal interaction between professionals and patients. Dentists have access to intimate parts of the body. Therefore, their relationships with patients carry high trust and vulnerability.

Similarly, dental office staff are sometimes in vulnerable situations. This is because their livelihood is at the mercy of the dentist or other senior staff. The dental profession is highly regulated. The California Dental Association sets ethical standards for licensed dentists. However, instances where misconduct occurs, including sexual harassment, are not uncommon in dental offices.

In a professional setting, such as a dental office, sexual harassment can range from verbal harassment to physical misconduct. California has strict sexual harassment laws. Therefore, a dentist facing allegations of such misconduct can face severe consequences. Victims of sexual harassment often file civil claims against the aggressor.

In the civil case, the judge can order the dentist to compensate the victim for the damages caused by the harassment.

Laws Governing Sexual Harassment in California

Several laws prohibit sexual harassment in the workplace and other settings. They include:

• California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). FEHA is a state law that makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against or harass employees.
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This federal law prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace, including hostile work environments.
• Sexual harassment in the workplace under AB 1825. AB 1825 is an additional law that mandates that employers with five or more employees provide training on sexual harassment prevention to all supervisory employees. The training allows them to recognize and address harassment.

Forms of Sexual Harassment by Dentists

California law and the dental profession prohibit sexual harassment at work. FEHA protects against sexual harassment and defines various forms of harassment. A dentist can face sexual harassment charges for a variety of inappropriate behaviors toward employees, patients, or colleagues. They include:

Unwelcome Sexual Advances

Unwelcome sexual advances are one of the most common forms of sexual harassment. It occurs when a dentist makes inappropriate comments or gestures toward a patient or an employee. For instance, it is considered harassment if a dentist makes sexually suggestive remarks to a patient. If these advances continue to cause the patient to feel uncomfortable, they can result in harassment allegations.

Requests for sexual favors

Sometimes, a dentist can face allegations of sexual harassment for requesting sexual favors from colleagues. Victims of this form of harassment could include dental hygienists and assistants at the dental office. Asking for sexual favors at work constitutes quid pro quo sexual harassment. Different ways through which this type of harassment can occur include:

• Requesting sexual favors for promotions or raises. It occurs when a dentist or office manager requests a sexual favor from another employee in exchange for career advancement. Under these circumstances, a raise or promotion will depend on the victim’s reception of the sexual advances.
• Offering or withholding benefits based on compliance. A dentist can provide special benefits for an employee who accepts their sexual requests. The benefits include desirable work schedules, vacation time, or bonuses. Alternatively, the person in authority might threaten to withhold the benefits if the employee refuses.
• Sexual favors linked to work assignments. A dentist might request sexual favors in exchange for assigning more desirable tasks. Employees may receive less favorable duties if they refuse the unwanted advances.
• Threatening termination for rejection. A dentist can face sexual harassment allegations if they threaten to fire an employee for rejecting sexual advances.
• Advances made during performance reviews. As a dentist, you may need to make a constant performance review for employees at your dental office. Promising positive reviews for an employee who welcomes your sexual advances is sexual harassment.

Inappropriate Physical Touch

Inappropriate physical contact can include any form of touch that is sexual in nature and unwanted. Physical proximity is unavoidable in dental practice. However, you should not cross the professional and ethical lines. California law requires all physical contact in a healthcare setting to remain professional.

Unwanted physical contact might include a dentist touching a staff member or a patient inappropriately. You could face allegations of sexual harassment when your physical interactions with a patient are sexual. Even slight touching that is inappropriate and unwanted could constitute harassment.

Inappropriate Sexual Comments or Jokes

While humor can create a positive work environment, professionals must ensure their jokes remain appropriate and do not cross ethical boundaries. Making sexual comments can create a hostile working environment and make patients uncomfortable. You could face sexual harassment allegations and charges for making sexually explicit jokes or suggestive remarks. Additionally, making comments about someone’s body can constitute sexual harassment.

Sexual Initiations or Requests

A dentist can face sexual harassment charges for making sexual requests or invitations. A dentist can ask a colleague or patient for sexual favors or suggest a sexual relationship. The recipient of these invitations can report them for sexual harassment. Such behavior can create an unsafe work environment and violate the victim’s boundaries. Even if the invitation is rejected, the request is harassment under California law.

Making Offensive or Sexual Gestures

Sexual harassment can also take the form of offensive or inappropriate sexual gestures. Your body language towards your colleagues or patients can land you in trouble for sexual harassment. Making obscene hand gestures or other suggestive physical actions suffices as sexual harassment. These gestures can create an uncomfortable work environment and lead to harassment claims.

Gestures are considered harassment if they make the other party feel threatened or uncomfortable. Sexual gestures are problematic in a dental office, where professional behavior is a priority.

Displaying Sexual or Pornographic Material

Sexual harassment can involve displaying sexual material or pornography in the workplace. It includes showing inappropriate content on computers, posters, or printed materials. Exposure to these obscene materials by a dentist is a clear violation of California law. Normalizing the display of sexual material is grounds for sexual harassment charges.

Sexual Assault

Sexual assault or coercion in the dental workplace can include any physical act of a sexual nature without consent. Sexual assault ranges from inappropriate touch to severe actions like rape and sodomy. While rape is an extreme form of sexual harassment, it is a potential risk in healthcare settings.

In the dental office, sexual assault could happen if a dentist takes advantage of a patient’s vulnerable position during a procedure. Additionally, the dentist can touch a patient’s genitals under the guise of conducting an examination. When reported to law enforcement, such conduct can result in criminal assault charges.

Civil Lawsuit for Sexual Harassment

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. The law mandates that employers must maintain a harassment-free environment. Failure to do so can lead to liability for the employer and the individual employee.

Allegations of sexual harassment against a dentist can result in a lawsuit. A civil lawsuit is different from criminal charges. However, a criminal conviction can strengthen the lawsuit. Under these circumstances, the court may order the dentist to pay damages to the complainant.

Typical forms of compensation in a sexual harassment lawsuit include damages for emotional distress and lost wages. A court could order the dentist to pay punitive damages if their behavior was egregious.

Common damages you may need to cover after a sexual harassment lawsuit include:

• Compensatory Damages. The court will order you to pay these damages to help the victim cover the losses associated with the harassment.Compensatory damages include reimbursement for medical expenses that the victim incurred. Additionally, you must pay for the emotional and mental distress you caused.
• Punitive damages. California law allows for punitive damages in cases where the defendant’s behavior is malicious. These damages serve as punishment for your actions. Additionally, they can discourage future misconduct.
• Back pay and front pay. Victims of sexual harassment at the dental office are entitled to back pay for wages lost due to the harassment. The compensation covers the pay they missed while on leave or because of job loss.Front pay compensates for future lost wages if the victim cannot return to the same job.
• Attorney’s fees and court costs. When filing a lawsuit against you or your dental office, a victim of sexual harassment can incur court costs. The court may order you to reimburse them for their attorney fees. Due to the high legal costs, reimbursing the victim for these costs can take a financial toll on you.
• Reinstatement or job placement. Sometimes, the court may order you to reinstate the victim to their previous position. The court can make such an order if you terminate an employee for reporting sexual harassment. If reinstatement is impossible, you must help the victim secure alternative employment.

Criminal Consequences of Sexual Harassment for Dentists

Dentists are held to high standards of professional conduct. You could face criminal charges for sexual harassment of patients or colleagues if your conduct meets the requirements of a crime. Common crimes arising from a sexual harassment incident include sexual assault and rape. A conviction for these offenses can result in the following legal and collateral consequences:

Criminal Penalties

Charges arising from sexual harassment incidents could range from assault to rape or other serious sex crimes. If the court finds you guilty of sexual harassment, you can face the following criminal penalties:

• Incarceration. Most sex crimes under California law attract jail or prison time. Depending on the nature of the sexual harassment, you could face a few months in jail or years in prison. For example, if you face charges of sexual assault, you could spend between three to eight years in prison.
• Fines. In addition to spending time behind bars, the court can impose a fine after your conviction for sexual harassment. For example, a conviction for sexual assault on a patient or colleague could result in penalties of up to $3,000.
• Probation. Sometimes, the court can sentence you to probation instead of jail time for sexual harassment. A probation sentence helps you avoid incarceration. However, the court imposes strict conditions to follow through the probation term. Violating the probation conditions can result in an arrest and additional criminal charges.

Additional Consequences of a Sexual Harassment Allegation

The consequences of a sexual harassment allegation go beyond compensating the victims and criminal charges. Additional consequences of these allegations could include:

Loss of a Professional License

Dentists in California must meet ethical requirements set by the professional licensing board. Sexual harassment of clients and colleagues is a common violation reported to the board. The Dentist Board of California governs the practice of dentists. The board establishes standards that each professional must meet.

As a licensed dentist, your professional license is your livelihood, allowing you to offer your services. After learning of the sexual harassment charges or allegations about you, the board will launch an investigation.

If the board finds you liable for the allegations, it can impose various forms of license discipline. They include suspension and revocation. Losing your professional license can take a toll on your career and livelihood.

Damage to Reputation and Trust

As a dentist, your reputation is vital to your practice. Allegations of sexual harassment can cause irreversible damage to your professional standing. Even if the allegations are unproven, news of the accusations can spread. Patients are often reluctant to return to a dentist accused of inappropriate behavior, leading to a loss of business.

Publication of sexual harassment allegations can cause harm to family-oriented practices. This is because these practices rely on personal connections and trust. The emotional and professional toll leads to financial instability.

Emotional and Psychological Effects

Accusations of sexual harassment can also take a toll on the dentist’s emotional and psychological health. The stress of legal proceedings, public scrutiny, and the loss of professional opportunities can result in isolation. Ostracization in the industry can also result in anxiety and depression.

Additionally, a dentist can experience guilt and shame after a guilty verdict in a sexual harassment case. The emotional effects of these cases can impact personal and professional relationships.

Defenses Against Sexual Harassment for Dentists in California

A sexual harassment allegation can have devastating effects on your life and career as a dentist. You could face sexual harassment allegations for engaging in unwelcome sexual behavior with clients or colleagues. If you face charges for different forms of sexual harassment, you must aggressively fight to avoid liability. The following are defenses you can present against your case:

No Harassment Occurred

A straightforward defense against sexual harassment allegations is arguing that no harassment occurred. When you face criminal charges related to sexual harassment, the prosecution must prove all the elements of the crime.

You can also assert that your behavior did not meet the legal definition of sexual harassment when battling a civil lawsuit. FEHA defines sexual harassment as unwanted and unwelcome sexual conduct. Your actions suffice as sexual harassment if they create a hostile work environment or cause discomfort to a client. You can argue that your conduct was either not sexual or did not create a hostile environment.

Insufficient Evidence

Sexual harassment at the dental office attracts a wide range of criminal charges. In legal proceedings, the burden of proof lies with the accuser. When proving your liability for the harassment, the alleged victim must present enough evidence. The accuser will use witnesses, documentation, or physical evidence to prove liability.

The standard of evidence necessary in a civil case is lower than that of a criminal case. Therefore, you can avoid liability by arguing that the prosecution lacks enough evidence.

False Allegations

Many allegations of sexual harassment in California are based on false allegations. An allegation of sexual harassment can impact your freedom and your professional license. Therefore, it is not uncommon for a competitor to try to ruin your reputation.

Sometimes, a person with whom you have a strained professional relationship can accuse you falsely. Facing a lawsuit based on false allegations is devastating. Therefore, you can work with a skilled sexual harassment attorney to uncover the false allegations.

Consensual Behavior

Another possible defense is that the alleged conduct was consensual. Sometimes, the dentist may claim that the interactions with the employee were mutual and welcomed. Therefore, they do not constitute sexual harassment.

However, this defense is difficult to establish. Proving consent when the power dynamics between a dentist and an employee may come into play. However, if you can prove that the interactions were consensual, this can serve as a valid defense against the harassment claim.

Misunderstanding or Miscommunication

Sometimes, behavior that one party perceives as harassment is a result of misunderstanding. You can argue that your actions or words were not sexual and that any potential discomfort caused was unintentional.

For example, an employee at your dental office can misunderstand a compliment that you give them. If they report the incident as sexual harassment, you can use this defense for your case. However, the defense may not succeed, mainly if the behavior is severe or egregious.

Your Conduct was not severe or Pervasive

Under federal and California law, sexual harassment claims are based on severe and pervasive sexual conduct. You can assert that their behavior does not meet this legal threshold. Comments that do not create hostility may not constitute unlawful sexual harassment.

Lack of Knowledge

If you run a dental office and sexual harassment occurs, the court can hold you responsible for sexual harassment at your facility. The liability arises when an employee harasses a colleague or a patient.

California law requires that employers establish appropriate measures to prevent sexual harassment. However, you must have known about the harassment and failed to take appropriate measures. You can defend yourself against claims by arguing a lack of knowledge. Using this defense, you must prove your attempts to keep the workplace safe.

Employers maintain a safe workplace by:

• Educating all employees on sexual harassment and its effects.
• Creating channels for reporting and investigating sexual harassment.
• Taking appropriate measures against the perpetrators of sexual harassment.

The Conduct Was Not Directed at the Complainant

You can avoid liability for sexual harassment by arguing that your conduct was not directed to the defendant. For example, a person may feel offended about a remark you make towards another individual at the office. If the person filing the claim against you is not the direct victim of your actions or comments, you can argue against the claim.

Find a Competent Sexual Harassment Defense Attorney Near Me

Dentists in California must maintain a professional and respectful environment. Understanding different forms of sexual harassment helps you avoid crossing ethical boundaries. California law provides extensive protections against sexual harassment.

They include the Fair Employment and Housing Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964. The victims of sexual harassment often file lawsuits against the perpetrator. If you are found liable for the harassment, you could lose your license through a suspension or revocation by the licensing board.

Fortunately, not all allegations of sexual harassment are factual. With the guidance of a skilled attorney, you can explore different defenses to avoid liability. These defenses may include disproving the harassment and claiming false allegations.

At Empower Sexual Harassment Attorney, we understand the impact of sexual harassment allegations on your personal and professional lives. We offer the expert legal insight you need to secure a favorable outcome on your case in San Diego, CA. Call us at 619-604-3027 today for much-needed guidance.