Pregnant Women Harassed In The Workplace

SAN FRANCISCO - It may be a new decade but that doesn’t mean that the workplace has seen the last of employee harassment and discrimination claims. Benny Martin, an Employment Rights attorney in San Francisco, explains how an alarming amount of harassment continues in the workplace, especially towards pregnant women. Studies have shown that women who become or may become pregnant are often discriminated against through pay, but also through a more subtle form of harassment in the form of jokes or quips.

“Unfortunately, many of us have already been exposed and desensitized to racial jokes and comments…” says Benny Martin. “It may be someone’s ethnicity, color, or religious beliefs, but this crude form of ‘fun’ concentrates on people who stand out in a workplace, and pregnant women are no exception. Often jokes or comments regarding pregnancy are not considered by co-workers as harassment.”

As an Employment Rights attorney in San Francisco Benny Martin has dealt with various harassment suits and offers three important remedies when facing harassment. These steps are key in making sure that work is not deemed as an unhealthy work environment, a term that will make any manager jump. Benny has explained that these steps are simple and easy to do and should never prevent anyone from taking steps from working in harassment free environment.

The first important step is documentation in the form of a written complaint that should be forwarded to the management team. A complaint letter should trigger the employer to act quickly and address the matter in a confidential and impartial manner. The second step in escalating the matter is to send the complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). If neither of these steps results in a discrimination and harassment free environment, the last step Benny recommends is speaking with a local employee rights attorney.