Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyer Blog

A Vacaville police officer, who formerly worked as an Oakland Raiders cheerleader has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the city.

Sexual harassment in Los Angeles, unfortunately, is not uncommon. Despite many laws on the books and wide coverage in the news media about lawsuits and big jury awards, bosses and companies still routinely treat people disrespectfully with sexual innuendos or advances in the workplace.

Even though the job market is tough right now, no one should have to work in an environment where they are subjected to being uncomfortable because they are being harassed. If you are in that situation, speak with an experienced Orange County Sexual Harassment Lawyer immediately.

In Vacaville, which is northeast of the Bay area, the 35-year-old officer said in a federal civil rights lawsuit that she endured jokes and comments about her looks by other officers. She joined the force in 2004 and has been on unpaid leave since 2009, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The comments stem from her former career as an Oakland Raiders cheerleader from 1997 to 2001, according to the lawsuit.

The woman says in the lawsuit that one sergeant once asked a room of colleagues to raise their hands if they wanted to see the plaintiff naked and another officer once told her, "nice rack." A supervisor once allegedly told her not to use the department's gym because of the attention she would draw to herself and someone once altered photos of her and other cheerleaders and post it for all to see.

She was placed on leave after she was charged with 10 felony counts of fraud for allegedly filing workers' compensation claims. Those charges were later dropped and stemmed from injuries sustained in a defensive tactics class. She returned to full duty and then alleges she was still injured. The city wouldn't provide her medical treatment or allow her to return to light-duty status, the lawsuit states.

Retaliation or refusal to pay legitimate medical claims stemming from work injury are unlawful and should not be tolerated.

Sexual harassment can be many different things, but often comes from unwelcome advances, requests for dates or sex, being sent inappropriate sex-based emails at work or being inappropriately touched or ogled.

None of these behaviors are right. Harassment in the workplace should be fought aggressively. A lawsuit is one way to do it, but an experienced Newport Beach Sexual Harassment Lawyer can work with the client and company to stop the behavior without dealing with the difficulty of litigation in some cases. Sometimes, though, that simply won't work and the case must be sent to trial.