Can I sue my employer for harassment in Florida?
Navigating the legal landscape of employment rights can be a complex and daunting task. If you have been mistreated by your boss, direct supervisor, or company, you may feel like you have no recourse. You might consider it, but can you sue your employer in Florida?
Under certain circumstances, you may be able to take legal action against your boss and fight for your rights. With that in mind, below is everything you need to know about standing up for yourself when facing employer mistreatment.
Before you sue your employer, you have to establish legal grounds for doing so. You can take legal action against the company you work for in several instances.
Here are a few such claims:
- Wrongful termination
- Discrimination
- Harassment
Many people ask, “Can I sue my job for firing me?” And in some cases, the answer is yes. However, the incident must constitute a case of wrongful termination, which occurs when an employer violates a state and/or federal law by terminating your employment.
Florida is an “at-will” employment state, which means that companies can terminate their workers for any reason, or even no reason at all, so long as the termination is not due to an unlawful reason. Employers, therefore, are given broad discretion, but there are exceptions to that rule—the unlawful reasons for a termination.
Specifically, your employer cannot fire you based on any of the following attributes or actions:
The Florida Civil Rights Act and federal laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, protect against wrongful termination. You might have grounds to sue your employer if you believe you were fired unlawfully.
Discrimination can also provide legal grounds for suing your employer in Florida. It refers to any unfair treatment that an employee or job applicant experiences as a result of certain protected characteristics, such as:
- Race
- Gender
- Disability
For example, being passed over for a promotion, demoted, or refused a job based on protected characteristics would constitute discrimination. Additionally, discrimination sometimes overlaps with harassment, which can be illegal if it is based on a protected characteristic, such as those outlined above.
Many different types of harassment can occur in the workplace. Sexual harassment is one of the most egregious, occurring when a coworker or boss makes unwanted sexual comments, advances, gestures, or requests for sexual favors.
Sexual harassment usually occurs between a boss and their subordinate. If someone is in a position of power over you in the workplace, they may unlawfully use their status to manipulate you into doing things you do not want to, such as tolerating unwanted touching.
If you experience any sort of discrimination or harassment, it is important to document the incidents and report them to your employer. You can file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR). Both of these agencies investigate harassment claims and can take action against employe.
What are the four categories of stalking?
Stalking includes a wide range of threatening and disturbing behaviors that can be classified into four categories: Surveillance, Life invasion, Intimidation, and Interference through sabotage or attack (SLII).
What is stalking and harassment?
Stalking and harassment is when someone repeatedly behaves in a way that makes you feel scared, distressed or threatened.
What to do if someone is stalking you?
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Note: SPARC does not directly work with stalking victims. If you are a victim or survivor of stalking, we recommend connecting with a local victim service provider who can help you plan for your safety, discuss legal options, and connect you with additional services. (The Victim Connect hotline can help connect victims with local providers.)
If you do not know how to reach your local service provider, or for additional assistance, you can contact the following hotlines:
Is harassment a felony in Florida?
F.S. 784.048
Stalking; definitions; penalties.—
(1) As used in this section, the term:
- (a) “Harass” means to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person which causes substantial emotional distress to that person and serves no legitimate purpose.
- (b) “Course of conduct” means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, however short, which evidences a continuity of purpose. The term does not include constitutionally protected activity such as picketing or other organized protests.
- (c) “Credible threat” means a verbal or nonverbal threat, or a combination of the two, including threats delivered by electronic communication or implied by a pattern of conduct, which places the person who is the target of the threat in reasonable fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her family members or individuals closely associated with the person, and which is made with the apparent ability to carry out the threat to cause such harm. It is not necessary to prove that the person making the threat had the intent to actually carry out the threat. The present incarceration of the person making the threat is not a bar to prosecution under this section.
- (d) “Cyberstalk” means:
- 1. To engage in a course of conduct to communicate, or to cause to be communicated, directly or indirectly, words, images, or language by or through the use of electronic mail or electronic communication, directed at or pertaining to a specific person; or
- 2. To access, or attempt to access, the online accounts or Internet-connected home electronic systems of another person without that person’s permission, causing substantial emotional distress to that person and serving no legitimate purpose.
(2) A person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person commits the offense of stalking, a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(3) A person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person and makes a credible threat to that person commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(4) A person who, after an injunction for protection against repeat violence, sexual violence, or dating violence pursuant to s. 784.046, or an injunction for protection against domestic violence pursuant to s. 741.30, or after any other court-imposed prohibition of conduct toward the subject person or that person’s property, knowingly, willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(5) A person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks a child under 16 years of age commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, puni