Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in California

My sister has been involved with a sexual harassment dispute with a large retail company for about a year. My sister was sexually harassed by an employee at work. It was reported and nothing was ever done about it. It continued on and got so bad that my sister had to see a doctor and the doctor said my sister was not alloyed back at work because she was too traumatized from the whole ordeal, and she was risking her health continuing on. The company's HR was contacted numerous times by my sister and yet nothing was ever done. We have a lawyer who has been working on the case for a year now. We have right to sue finally, and one last settlement offer has been given in an attempt to prevent trial. They are now low balling us saying that the employee who did the sexual harassment no longer works there so the are not responsible for her actions. Can they get away with that? Keep in mind that this is a LARGE retail company with their own HR department, lawyers, etc. We need help because we have slowly begun to lose confidence in our lawyer. Any advice on what to do this late in the game would be appreciated.


Asked on 1/05/12, 2:05 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Kirschbaum Law Offices of Michael R. Kirschbaum

Employers will say anything and everything to avoid paying large settlements. There is nothing unusual about that. The case should be settled or decided on the actual evidence which only your sister's lawyer knows, to be able to evaluate the case.

If your sister has lost confidence in her attorney, she should have one last heart to heart talk with him or her about his or her view of the case and what the plan is going forward. If she does not like what she hears, she should start consulting with other experienced attorneys, at least for a second opinion, before the current attorney goes too far with the case. The current attorney will probably place a lien on the case to get fees paid from any settlement, which may make getting a new attorney somewhat difficult.

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Answered on 1/05/12, 2:30 pm


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