You as a victim are protected by harassment laws, and you may require a harassment lawyer if you fall into one of the following categories: bullying, psychological harassment, racial harassment, religious harassment, sexual harassment, stalking, mobbing, hazing, backlash, or police harassment.
Harassment laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its subsequent laws on harassment are what protect you. You can find help online to protect your rights, or as an employer, you can find resources on the web as well to keep your company out of harm's way.
If you feel that you are a victim of harassment:
1. Object to the behavior
2. Keep a record that includes the behavior as well as the dates
3. Consider retaining a harassment lawyer
4. Report the behavior
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Learn about harrassment laws
Online books stores such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon are a great place to start defining if what is happening to you is harassment. There are other book sources out there for you, though, too.
I recommend: Barnes & Noble and Amazon both offer a large selection on Harassment law, but check out
Target's "The Law of Harassment and Stalking" by Paul Infield and Graham Platford.
Shop.com also carries selections such as "The Workplace Law Advisor" by Anne Covey.
Lawyer Weekly Books also has a nice selection of books covering the topic of harassment as well.
Find a harassment lawyer to interpret the laws for you
You can find many harassment attorneys in your town as well as online to assist you in filing claims and determining the best course of action to take in your situation.
I recommend: Check out
Lawyer.com for a listing of civil rights attorneys in your area. You can also find harassment lawyers at firms such as
Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C., a harassment law firm that specializes in civil rights, employment issues, and more.
Consider prevention before there is a need for harassment lawyers
Employers need to stay abreast of laws on harassment, and prevention is key. Consider the help of a specialist or firm to help clean house on bad behavior at your company.
I recommend: Look into the services of
McClure Associates. They specialize in helping you deal with managing high-risk employee behavior. Consider a
SkillPath seminar like "Dealing Effectively With Unacceptable Employee Behavior." Another option is a company like
Employment Practices that offers training on sexual harassment, diversity, anger management, conflict resolution, and discrimination.
Profit from a non-profit organization on workplace harassment laws
Non-profit organizations help you understand what your rights are as a victim, or help you as an employer educate yourself on what your responsibilities to your employees.
I recommend: Check out the work of the
Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence. They are a non-profit that trains a number of institutions on how to prevent violence, bias, and harassment.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- Check out a number of books at library on workplace harassment laws and federal harassment laws, and then only commit to buying those that you have previewed and feel that the purchase would be worth it. Often times we forget that the library is an available resource, and whittling down your book selection before you head to the store is great cost savings measure. It's terrible when you have shelled out over $30 for a book, only to come home, read it, and find out that it's content was not exactly what you wanted or that it didn't cover your topic as thoroughly as you would have liked.
The official source of Harassment Law is the Harassment Law page at Business.com
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