A compensation claim may be available if you have been a victim of sexual harassment at your employment. Suppose you’ve been subjected to inappropriate touching or vulgar remarks at the workplace or insulting comments regarding your gender or sexual orientation at work. In that case, you can certainly file a claim for sexual harassment against your employer.
If in case, you are successful in winning your lawsuit, then the final sexual harassment compensation is entirely dependent on the type of damage you have suffered. A few types of harms you might have encountered include the compensation – back pay and front pay. These are intended to make up for any wages that you may have lost due to being sexually harassed on the job. Other types of emotional distress damages – also known as pain and misery damages caused by the harassment or punishing your employer for failing to cease the harassment – known as punitive damages are also available.
Front Pay
If you were fired or forced to resign from your job due to sexual harassment, you might be entitled to reinstatement under federal law, which is the process of returning you to your previous position.
On the other hand, reinstatement is frequently difficult or impractical due to endless reasons. It is very much possible that the position may no longer be accessible or because your working relationship with your former company has deteriorated to the point where you cannot return.
It is possible that, in this scenario, you will be eligible for an award of front pay rather than reinstatement. To compensate you for any wage loss you are anticipated to experience from the date of your verdict into the future; you will receive front pay.
Due to your incapacity to be reinstated, your front pay is the amount of money that you will lose in the future in earnings. The amount of front pay you can get depends on the judge’s decision. Factors affecting this form of sexual harassment compensation include:
- How long did you work there?
- How much time do the employees in similar roles stay in the same company?
- How old are you?
Back Pay
Your right to compensation may be restored if you have been wrongfully denied a raise or fired as a result of sexual harassment. Back pay refers to the earnings, bonuses, and other remuneration you would have received from the time of the unfavorable employment decision to the date of the judgment. Back pay consists of the following items:
- compensation for time off or sick leave
- Bonuses, commissions, or trips
- benefits such as health insurance or life insurance
- salary, including any, raises you were entitled to but did not receive
- Stock options and profit sharing
Punitive and Compensatory Damages
Depending on the circumstances, your lawyer may be able to pursue to get you the compensatory or punitive damages. These are damages for the emotional suffering you have suffered due to being harassed by a sexual predator. The harassment may also have caused damage to your reputation, which may have resulted in out-of-pocket payments.
Damages granted to the claimant for items that cannot be quantified are known as “punitive damages.” Those who commit irresponsible or malicious acts will be subjected to these penalties.
For example, if a claimant can demonstrate that a corporation was aware of sexual harassment but did nothing to stop it, this might be considered intentional misconduct.
In most cases, a jury will choose whether or not to award punitive damages based on facts provided during the legal process.
Federal law limits compensatory and punitive damages in discrimination actions (including sexual harassment) based on employer size.
- The limit is $50,000 for firms with 15-100 employees.
- The limit is $100,000 for firms with 101-200 employees.
- The limit is $200,000 for firms with 201-500 employees.
- The limit is $300,000 for firms having more than 500 employees.
The jury will determine the sexual harassment compensation awarded in your case. Talk to your lawyer at Mann & Elias for an idea. We will be providing you with an estimate of your damages in a sexual harassment case.