What Should I Do After Filing A Sexual Harassment Lawsuit?

We need you to assist us in winning your case. We cannot win the case without you, so your involvement is important and necessary. We will prepare you for what is to come so you do well in the critical phases of litigation. Before and after we file your sexual harassment lawsuit, we are constantly gathering information from you and all sources we can find. This process never ends the entire case. Things come up and we will need to adapt and investigate to be able to win. We will ask you to answer written questions, called interrogatories that are very comprehensive and require thoughtful, truthful, detailed responses under oath. In every case, the defense attorney has the right to personally question you under oath about your case. This is called a deposition and is done in a conference room with a court reporter. In every case, the defense attorney always takes advantage of this process, and you can expect that your deposition will take place several months after we file the lawsuit.

This is a critical moment in every case, and we prepare extensively for it. We spend weeks preparing for the deposition and we hold practice question and answer sessions with you to get you ready. We are always in touch with you as often as we need to be in touch with you. At the deposition, the defense attorney is going to question you extensively about the lawsuit, the harassment, and the names of anyone with whom you’ve discussed the case. They will also ask you questions about your job history and performance, and will ask you about the harms you suffered from being sexually harassed. The questions can be intrusive, but we sit with you the entire time, at your side, defending you and making all objections that are necessary. We continue to work on your case for you all the way through trial, and we will interact with you as needed along the way. All we ask is that you let us work up the case and assist us as needed.

Am I Going To Have To Testify In Court?

It is unlikely that you will have to testify in court for a sexual harassment lawsuit unless the case goes to trial, and only about five percent of the cases we take actually go to trial. However, you will definitely have to answer the defense attorney’s questions at the deposition. If you do end up testifying in court, we will ensure that you are fully prepared and we take as much time as we need to get you ready.

What Do I Have To Pay If I Do Not Win My Sexual Harassment Case?

We take your case on a contingency basis. This means we only get paid if we win. We never ask you to pay any case costs for your case as the case is being worked up. We pay all the case expenses as they arise. We only get paid if your case settles or we win at trial and the judge orders the other side to pay our bills. We never charge you an hourly fee, nor do we bill you or send you invoices. If we do not win your sexual harassment case, you will not have to pay anything.

Can I Talk About My Sexual Harassment Case After It Is Settled?

California law is changing. Before, it used to be that if a case settled, then the defense attorneys always wanted to include a confidentiality provision, meaning you could not discuss your sexual harassment case after it was settled unless you were speaking about it with your lawyer, a tax professional, or your spouse. Now, with the passage of a new series of laws, it is no longer permitted for the employer to demand confidentiality as a term of settlement. The precise contours of these laws will eventually be refined and tested in the Courts of Appeal, but understand, that often times employers want to buy their peace, and demand that as part of settlement that no one is allowed to talk about the facts of the case or terms of settlement. And remember, we do not take cases so that our clients can brag about winning; we take them because we want our clients to have justice and because we want employers to prevent harassment from occurring in the first place. If we can correct the underlying behavior of the harasser, by having discipline imposed, such as termination, demotion, etc., and we can cause the employer to implement real, lasting preventative measures such as a real sexual harassment prevention training program, actual discipline imposed on enablers, such as lenient HR managers and supervisors who ignore complaints of sexual harassment, and real corporate culture reform so that sexual harassment in the workplace is on the way to being eradicated, then we will consider the case a victory, no matter the monetary outcome.

For more information on Aftermath Of Sexual Harassment Lawsuit, A Free Case Evaluation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (909) 833-8999 today.