Dallas Sexual Harassment Lawyer

Sexual harassment and sex discrimination remain recurring problems in the workplace. IMcP’s employment lawyers are faced with this unfortunate situation too often, and step in to help our clients in their time of trauma. These situations require various strategies, each tailored to unique situations. Sexual harassment and sex discrimination are often related but those claims are assessed separately under Texas law and federal law.

At will employees have protections against sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. Sexual harassment claims are different than sex discrimination claims. Sex discrimination is discrimination based on sex (more on that below). Texas law has seen changes in recent years regarding sexual harrassment; as of 2024, sexual harassment is defined under the Texas Labor Code at Section 21.141(2), as:

an unwelcome sexual advance, a request for a sexual favor, or any other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature if:

(A) submission to the advance, request, or conduct is made a term or condition of an individual’s employment, either explicitly or implicitly;
(B) submission to or rejection of the advance, request, or conduct by an individual is used as the basis for a decision affecting the individual’s employment;
(C) the advance, request, or conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance; or
(D) the advance, request, or conduct has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

There are other significant differences between sexual harassment claims and sex discrimination claims. For example, as of the law in 2024, sexual harassment claims can be brought against an employer that (a) employs one or more employees or (b) acts directly in the interests of an employer in relation to an employee. In comparison, sexual discrimination claims can be brought against an employer defined as follows:

(A) a person who is engaged in an industry affecting commerce and who has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year;
(B) an agent of a person described by Paragraph (A);
(C) an individual elected to public office in this state or a political subdivision of this state; or
(D) a county, municipality, state agency, or state instrumentality, regardless of the number of individuals employed.

That definition shows the potential, under a sexual harassment claim, for individual liability of an owner, supervisor, manager, or other person that “acts directly in the interests of an employer in relation to an employee.”

Also, Texas harassment law explains “when” sexual harassment occurs. Under Texas law as of 2024, an employer commits an unlawful employment practice if sexual harassment of an employee occurs and the employer or the employer’s agents or supervisors: (1) know or should have known that the conduct constituting sexual harassment was occurring; and (2) fail to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.

In comparison, under Texas discrimination law as of 2024, sexual discrimination occurs as follows: an employer commits an unlawful employment practice if because of sex the employer:

(1) fails or refuses to hire an individual, discharges an individual, or discriminates in any other manner against an individual in connection with compensation or the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment; or
(2) limits, segregates, or classifies an employee or applicant for employment in a manner that would deprive or tend to deprive an individual of any employment opportunity or adversely affect in any other manner the status of an employee.

Another difference is the deadline between the time a complaint must be filed. As of the law in 2024, sexual discrimination claims must be received by the TWC “180 days of the alleged unlawful employment practice”; sexual harassment claims must be received by the TWC “within 300 days of the alleged sexual harassment.”

It should be noted that there is separate sexual harassment claims for others, such as unpaid interns. That is addressed in the Texas Labor Code at Section 21.1065.

Employment lawyers’ experience matters when dealing with Texas discrimination law and Texas sexual harassment law. That IMcP experience, and understanding the legal distinctions of the relevant claims, is crucial.