Courts reviewing sexual harassment claims have the potential to award plaintiffs with significant monetary compensation; however, the legal claims have to establish certain causal links in order to be successful. Recently, a California court denied a plaintiff’s appeal in her employment discrimination case, concluding that there was no causal link between the sexual harassment that the individual faced and the consequences that she suffered while on the job. Thus, even though the plaintiff had conclusively established that she was a victim of sexual harassment, her case was ultimately unsuccessful.
According to the opinion, the plaintiff sued her employer for sexual harassment, retaliation, and failure to prevent harassment and retaliation. After her claim was denied by a lower court, the plaintiff appealed and hoped that a higher court would grant her a more favorable verdict.
The plaintiff was one of only three women serving as a lead public safety dispatcher for the city in which she resided. As a SWAT team member, the plaintiff was consistently subjected to sexually explicit jokes, nudity, and simulated sexual acts. What’s more, the plaintiff felt as if she could not refuse to participate in the sexually explicit culture, given it seemed necessary for her to advance as a member of the team.