Elected Officials and Politicians

As a politician, your time is spent in the office crafting policies or the field inspecting projects. Your job entails spending a lot of time with your staff or members of the public. Unfortunately, during these interactions, your actions or words could be misconstrued as sexual impropriety or harassment, leading to a lawsuit.

Sexual harassment accusations can cause more serious harm to elected officials and politicians than other professionals because they damage your reputation, resulting in loss of job, criminal charges, and payment of hefty compensation to the victim. Therefore, when you face allegations in San Diego, you should not hesitate to contact Empower Sexual Harassment Attorneys for legal representation.

Sexual Harassment by Elected Officials in a Nutshell

As a politician and elected official, you must obey state and federal laws when serving your community. Unfortunately, sexual harassment accusations against elected officials have been on the rise recently, with many complaints coming from local government employees. Elected officials include:

• Governors.
• State senate workers.
• Lieutenant governors.
• Attorney generals.
• Attorney general staff.
• Commissioners.
• Employees working for commissioners.
• House of Representative staff.
• State school superintendents.

When you belong to this list and you engage in conduct that is considered sexual harassment, you risk workplace sexual harassment accusations from a staff member or civil member of the public.

Sexual harassment refers to unwelcome sexual behavior that makes another party uncomfortable. The conduct does not need to be physical. The focus is on the effects of the words or behavior on the targeted party. The discomfort, fear, or anxiety should cause the victim emotional distress.

Sexual harassment encompasses, but is not limited to:

• Verbal conduct that demeans or sexualizes an employee at work, like lewd comments, sexual innuendos, and offensive jokes. Even if suggestive, these words can create an uncomfortable work environment if they persist.
• Unwanted advances, especially when a colleague or superior repeatedly makes romantic or sexual gestures when the targeted party lacks interest.
• Physical harassment that includes unwelcome grabbing or groping.

Unlawful behavior in the workplace that is considered sexual harassment includes:

• Sharing unwanted sexual stories.
• Inquiring from your staff about their sexual lives.
• Displaying or sharing explicit or sexual materials with staff members.
• Sharing unwanted sexual letters, emails, or notes.
• Making comments or jokes about a worker’s body, sexual appearance or body appearance.
• Making sexual comments on a worker’s body or outfit.
• Making unwanted sexual contact like hugging, rubbing against their body part, or pinching.
• Making sexual gestures or noises with the intent to offend.

When you are under investigation or face accusations for any of this unlawful conduct, you should seek legal representation. Mostly, alleged victims seek compensation, which can happen outside court or through a lawsuit. Even if you reasonably believe the accusations are false, you should defend vigorously. If the lawsuit’s verdict is unfavorable, you could lose your job or money towards compensation.

Action You Should Take as a Politician After a Harassment Accusation or Charge

Tips to help you when under investigation for sexual harassment are:

Do Not Answer Questions from the Investigators Without your Attorney’s Presence

Any information you divulge to the investigators can be used against you like any other criminal investigation. Therefore, you should be careful during investigator cross-examining to avoid giving out information that could be used against you. Preferably, you should have your attorney present during interrogation to decide the questions you should answer and those you should not.

It can be tempting to share your story with the investigators, especially when you believe you are innocent. Unfortunately, this is the wrong move because the accuser could turn the story against you, particularly if the false allegations are motivated by anger, jealousy, or malice.

Stay silent until your attorney is present. The legal representative will guide you in answering the questions to ensure that you do not give out incriminating information that could result in an unfavorable result.

Do Not Be Tempted to Retaliate

As an elected politician, you enjoy several benefits, including that private workers are not privy to. You are entitled to disability and retirement benefits. Furthermore, California and federal statutes provide safety nets prohibiting your staff from making decisions that could adversely affect your position. Additionally, you are entitled to whistleblower protection.

With the protection you enjoy and the power you command, it can be tempting to retaliate against a staff member or member of the public accusing you of sexual harassment. There are various types of retaliations, including:

• Demotion.
• Firing.
• Harassment.
• Threats.
• Increased scrutiny by managers or immediate supervisors.
• Spreading false information about your accuser.
• Creating a hostile or unfriendly work setting to discourage other workers from reporting harassment issues.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) protects all workers from retaliation for filing complaints, helping with investigations, or resisting harassment. Therefore, when you take any action against an accuser that is deemed to create fear or discourage others from reporting injustices, it will make you liable for the sexual harassment. It makes you look unprofessional and guilty of the harassment allegations and could be used by the plaintiff or prosecutor to prove you are guilty of the accusations.

Nevertheless, do not misinterpret this as a measure that bars you from disciplining or terminating workers for non-discriminatory, non-retaliatory, or genuine reasons. If a staff member does not meet the set standards for employment or contravenes the employment agreement, you can take the necessary measures.

Gather Evidence Relevant to the Case

Before a plaintiff lodges an accusation or lawsuit, they gather sufficient evidence to build a compelling case. They usually work with an attorney to gather proof relevant to the case, including text messages, emails, and written statements from witnesses. As the accused, you should also collect and arrange evidence to disprove the plaintiff’s story or prove the actual evidence.

Therefore, when you learn of an ongoing investigation by law enforcement or an impending lawsuit, talk to an attorney to review the type of sexual harassment accusation against you and guide you in gathering the appropriate evidence to counter the allegations. Whether it is a quid pro quo or hostile work-setting harassment accusation, your defense lawyer will gather the necessary proof to build a solid defense.

You should also write down every detail you remember about the encounter with the plaintiff. That way, if the allegations are false, the attorney can prove the facts to the court and the objective behind the plaintiff’s false accusations.

Hire an Experienced Harassment Defense Attorney

Sexual harassment allegations, however minor, threaten your political career, not to mention you could end up in jail if the court convicts you of the criminal charge and pays huge amounts as compensation to the victim. With these consequences at stake, you should not defend yourself in these cases or represent yourself in court. You need a professional who understands court processes in these cases and the best arguments for a favorable verdict.

Hiring a defense attorney knowledgeable about sexual harassment cases against politicians will improve your chances of a fair verdict. The defense lawyer will offer you legal guidance, help you collect proof relevant to the case, and build a robust defense to protect your reputation, political position, and reputation.

Understand Federal and California Statutes

To defeat the harassment accusations against you, you should understand the statutes prescribing the violation at the California and federal levels. Your attorney should explain the laws you are accused of violating and the possible consequences.

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act is the statute that defines sexual harassment at the national or federal level. The Act prohibits any unlawful conduct in the workplace, public or private, that could cause emotional distress and adversely impact an employee’s work performance. The behaviors the statute forbids include:

• Unwanted sexual propositions or advances.
• Requests for sexual favors.
• Sexually suggestive behavior, whether verbal, physical, or emotional.

When proving a violation of Title VII, the plaintiff should show:

• The victimized and victimizer are of the same or different sex.
• The victimizer has a close relationship with the plaintiff.
• The accuser still holds their position at work and did not suffer financial losses.

The statutes that prescribe sexual harassment at the state level are the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), which forbids sexual-based discrimination on the job. The law prohibits sexual harassment from senior employees who promise work benefits for sexual favors or threaten employees with negative work consequences if they do not agree to their sexual demands. The statute further highlights unfriendly work environments as a type of harassment that is perpetrated by staff of all levels, including colleagues.

It is a common misconception that men alone are the ones who engage in work-related sexual harassment. Nevertheless, the truth is that women, too, make unwelcome sexual propositions to men on the job. Sometimes, employees of the same sex also make these inappropriate propositions.

Government Code (GC) 12940 (j) of FEHA states that even third parties not working for the elected politician, like traders and contractors, can be involved in sexual harassment cases. It does not have to be your supervisor or coworker. The elected official will be responsible for third parties offering services on a contractual basis if these contractors engage in sexual harassment and the official is aware of this but fails to take any measures to fix the situation.

You do not have to be the one doing the harassment. If your senior staff members or supervisors are harassing the juniors or some junior workers are harassing other juniors, you will still be liable for sexual harassment if you were aware of the unlawful conduct and did not take the necessary steps to prevent the behavior or discipline the accused. The law deems you to control all your staff and even the third parties.

Elected officials and politicians always work during the period they hold office. Therefore, even when you are interacting with the public, any sexual behavior or comment, even by a member of the public, could be misinterpreted as sexual harassment. However, because the member of the public is not your employee, you will not face sexual harassment allegations under FEHA.

Your Role as an Elected Politician in Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work

Politicians and elected officials are prone to sexual harassment accusations because of their popularity and political enemies trying to bring them down. Public officeholders face criticism and ridicule, but this comes with the job. Sexual harassment allegations will even worsen the situation, with the public judging them as guilty even before they have the chance to defend themselves.

The condemnation from the media and public can ruin your political career and reputation even when you are innocent. Many voters decide on whom to vote for based on history. A 2017 study shows that 62% of voters did not vote for a politician with a history of sexual harassment, meaning many people will not vote for you just because of an accusation, whether or not you are guilty. Therefore, you should take any sexual harassment accusation with the weight it deserves and hire a profound defense attorney to keep the situation in control and protect your political career.

Also, you should take measures to prevent harassment accusations, including:

1. Employing a Reliable Sexual Harassment Defense Attorney

When campaigning or holding office, you will have a few legal attorneys to attend to legal matters concerning your office. However, this is not enough legal representation. You require the services of a personal lawyer to help you tackle legal issues that directly affect you as an individual and not your office. The attorney will work tirelessly to protect you from sexual harassment accusations from your employees, third parties, or the public. The attorney will also move to speed to address such allegations before they become public or reach the court.

2. Develop a Plan to Address the Allegations

Craft a plan to address legal trouble. As much as you are an outstanding politician, you could face an investigation, so it is essential to have a plan to deal with these legal problems. The plan should include how to address the media and the public when these types of accusations arise. Media outlets, state or local, will cover sexual harassment cases involving politicians or elected officials extensively. Therefore, your legal and media team should be equipped to address any questions these outlets ask. Professionals who answer these questions with a strategy will prevent crucial information that could harm your reputation from reaching the public.

3. Performing your Obligations On Sexual Harassment Policies

Employers with at least five workers must have written sexual harassment policies and have channels in place to implement the policies to deter job-related sexual harassment. The policies include training all workers on various forms of sexual harassment and providing new supervisors with at least two hours of training to ensure the employees abide by them.

These policies must be translated for workers who do not speak English. The policies include all protected characteristics, including:

• Gender.
• Age.
• Ancestry.
• Physical impairment.
• Sex.
• Gender identity.
• National origin.
• Sexual orientation.
• Marital status.

The policies should also specify California and federal statutes prohibiting this unlawful conduct. The policy guideline also outlines the steps employees should follow to report the harassment and the steps the employer will take once these cases are reported.

When, as a politician, you receive a complaint of sexual harassment from your worker, the measures you should take to prevent liability are:

• Respond promptly.
• Assure the employee that they will not face any retaliatory action for reporting injustice.
• Give the worker alternative channels for reporting when the harasser is their immediate supervisor.
• Assign neutral parties to investigate the complaint.
• Document the investigations.
• Take the relevant measures against the harasser.
• Take measures to amend those victimized.

When you do this, it becomes difficult for the plaintiff to accuse you of gross negligence or that you encouraged the sexual behavior by protecting parties charged with harassment.

4. Document All Conversations or Encounters with the Plaintiff

Write down all encounters or conversations with the accuser, particularly if you suspect they will file a lawsuit against you. Your notes should include the time of the interactions, the parties involved, and the discussions. If they file a lawsuit, these records will help disapprove the accuser’s claims.

5. Understand Your Workplace Environment

You will attend many public and private events during campaigns or office time. Many politicians and elected officials lower their guard in some of these events, leading to harassment accusations. Do not be one of these politicians. Instead, be aware of your environment and avoid conversations that could be misinterpreted as inappropriate sexual propositions or advances leading to an accusation or lawsuit.

Defending Sexual Harassment Accusations

If you have made a comment, joke, or act that makes your employee uncomfortable, you should apologize and promise never to repeat the same. Clearing the air early in the case prevents the situation from escalating, leading to loss of employment or a detented reputation. If you damage your reputation, your chances of being reelected are minimal. Besides, you should work with the accuser to mend the situation and heal the emotional and physical problems you caused.

Conversely, when you are an elected politician who faces false accusations and believes that your conduct does not amount to sexual harassment, you can take several measures to fight the allegations.

You can learn ways to contest the allegations by consulting with an experienced defense attorney. You should discuss the type of relationship you have with the accuser and the details of the case. Tell your attorney the truth of the events leading to the accusations to understand the case fully. EEOC will uncover the truth and drop the case if the allegations are untrue. However, your attorney must prepare to defend the case when the plaintiff is given the go-ahead to file the lawsuit. The common defenses the attorney can use are:

Your Behavior was Not Sexually Motivated

When your accusation stems from an isolated incident, you can claim that a comment or joke you made that made the plaintiff uncomfortable was not sexual. You are innocent if you show that the joke went too far but did not intend to make the plaintiff uncomfortable. Again, you can argue that you often communicate through touch or backtap and that your actions did not cause severe discomfort or intimidation.

The Plaintiff Consented to the Act

Regardless of the severity of your conduct, if the victim consents to it, you are innocent. However, if you continue with the act, like pinching someone’s buttocks after the person withdraws consent, you are guilty of sexual harassment. For conduct or comments to amount to sexual harassment, they must be unwanted. Therefore, you can challenge the allegations by claiming the alleged victim welcomed the sexual proposition, comments, jokes, or touch.

You Took All The Necessary Measures to Fix the Situation

When you face accusations as an employer because the victim believes you did not take appropriate measures to address the situation, you can assert that you performed your obligations as an employer and, therefore, are not liable for your employee’s actions.

You are Falsely Accused

Some of your political opponents could be unhappy about your political achievements or reputation and could try to use false sexual harassment accusations to bring you down. If you documented conversations and interactions with the accuser, it will be easy to prove the allegations are untrue and that the plaintiff has other malicious motives. With this assertion supported by proof, the court will dismiss your case, reduce the damages to award the plaintiff or impose lenient penalties if you are convicted.

The Insanity Defense

Your defense attorney can challenge your allegations using an insanity defense. If you can prove that you were not in a sober state of mind, like having a mental illness during the harassment, the court will not hold you liable for the conduct.

Find a Proficient Sexual Harassment Defense Attorney Near Me

When someone lodges a harassment suit against you, they seek a settlement, compensatory damages imposed by a judge, or legal penalties in a criminal process. So, when you face the allegations, speak to a defense attorney who has represented elected officials or politicians like you in the past. At Empower Sexual Harassment Attorneys, we will review your case to decide if to settle or wait for a judge’s verdict. If the case goes to trial, we will defend you for a fair outcome. Contact us at 619-604-3027 to discuss your case in San Diego.