Sexual harassment and workplace harassment
Your employer has lawyers, policies, and an HR department. We help you understand your options and plan the next step.
Harassment at work often comes with a quiet threat: your job, your shifts, your reference. That pressure is why many people wait. It is also why the law protects people who report it.
Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual conduct at work. It can be a demand tied to your job (“quid pro quo”), or conduct severe or frequent enough to make the workplace hostile. Both are illegal under federal law (Title VII) and Texas law (Labor Code chapter 21).
The deadlines are shorter than most people expect. A charge with a state or federal agency often has to be filed within months, not years. So the first thing we look at is the date of the last incident.
In the case review, you can tell us what happened in your own words and at your own pace.
Texas clients meet at our Dallas office on LBJ Freeway. Florida clients meet with Shayan by phone or video. There is no Florida office.
Your employer has a playbook for complaints. Knowing it lets you plan around it.
In the case review, we build a timeline: what happened, who was involved, and the date of the most recent incident. That date sets the agency deadline.
Save texts, emails, messages, schedules, and performance reviews to a personal device or account, where the law and your employer’s policies allow it. Write down names of witnesses.
Many employers have a complaint procedure, and using it can matter later. We help you decide when and how to report, and what to put in writing.
In Texas, a charge goes to the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division or the federal EEOC, and one filing can count for both. The agency may investigate or offer mediation.
After the agency stage, you may receive a right-to-sue notice, which starts a short deadline to file a lawsuit. Settlement, mediation, or court. We weigh each with you before choosing.
You work with Shayan directly, and he handles your case himself. Anyone on his staff who helps with it works under his supervision.
Shayan describes himself as a trial and civil rights attorney, with pro bono work on civil rights issues.
Many of the articles on our blog are about workplace rights, from Title IX to filing with the TWC or the EEOC.
Licensed in Florida since 2004 and in Texas since 2012.
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Last reviewed . Laws change, so check the date.
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other sexual conduct, spoken, written, or physical. It is illegal when it is tied to a job decision, or when it is severe or frequent enough to create a hostile work environment. One serious incident can be enough.
This is general information, not legal advice.
For sexual harassment, a charge with the Texas Workforce Commission is due within 300 days of the last incident, after a 2021 change to the Labor Code (House Bill 21, now Labor Code section 21.202(a-1)). Other discrimination charges with the TWC are due within 180 days (Labor Code section 21.202). A charge with the EEOC in Texas is generally due within 300 days.
This is general information, not legal advice. Your deadline depends on your facts.
A charge with the Florida Commission on Human Relations is generally due within 365 days (Florida Statutes section 760.11(1)). The EEOC deadline is generally 300 days.
This is general information, not legal advice. Your deadline depends on your facts.
Often, yes. Federal law (Title VII) covers employers with 15 or more employees. Since 2021, Texas law covers sexual harassment claims against employers with 1 or more employees (Labor Code section 21.141).
This is general information, not legal advice.
No. Retaliation for reporting harassment, or for supporting someone else’s complaint, is illegal under federal and Texas law. A demotion, firing, cut in hours, or sudden bad review after a complaint may be a separate claim.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Texts, emails, chat messages, photos, HR complaints and replies, schedules, pay records, and the names of anyone who saw or heard it. A dated diary written at the time helps too. Check the law before recording anyone.
This is general information, not legal advice.
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