Attorney to File Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Film Studio Company

It is unlawful for employers, including film studio companies, to sexually harass their employees under any circumstance. If you are a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace, you have the right to file a lawsuit against your employer. The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group are your sexual harassment lawyers in Los Angeles and are here to ensure that you get the necessary representation and counsel for the legal process moving forward.

Despite the amazing films which are released every year by Hollywood, the American film industry is not without its faults. Take a look at the large majority of movies and the people who collaborated to create the picture, and one can see the severe lack of diversity and representation in those movies. Indeed, it is a very difficult industry to break into, and the executives and employers know it. They may try and coerce applicants or employees to perform sexual acts or subject them to other forms of sexual harassment in order for them to advance in their film career. Employees, often thinking there is no other way to advance, will sometimes give in to these demands. If these advances were unwanted or unwelcomed, then your employer violated the anti-discrimination laws put in place to protect employees, and it gives you the legal grounds to file a lawsuit against your employer.

The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group is here to ensure that your employer pays for breaking the law and subjecting you to sexual harassment. If the film studio company for which you work sexually harassed you, give us a call and we will be able to explain your rights as an employee and help you throughout the entire process.

What Is Sexual Harassment?


Some employers may offer promotions in the film industry to their subordinates to guarantee them an upward movement in the tough industry of film. Employees must know that it is unlawful for employers to do so.

According to federal law, it is unlawful to harass a person because of that person’s sex. Sexual harassment is one such type of harassment which is a severe issue because it subjects primarily women to unfair and unethical treatment. Although, it must be noted, that men can (and have) be subjected to sexual harassment and the law applies to them as well.

Sexual harassment is considered to be “unwelcome sexual advances, favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.” It is considered an unwelcome sexual advance when:

  • “Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, or
  • “Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or
  • “Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.”

As stated above, the victim can be either a man or a woman, and the perpetrator can, too, be either a man or a woman. The violation can be of a heterosexual or homosexual nature. When one person makes an unwanted sexual advancement to another person, it is considered sexual harassment.

Harassment becomes illegal when it so severe or frequent that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment for the victim. It is also considered harassment when the actions have an adverse effect on the employee. For example, let’s say an executive approaches a female employee and asks for sexual favors and promises that she will get a promotion if she complies. The female worker refuses, and the executive demotes her–this is considered having an adverse effect.

The harasser does not have to be an executive; the perpetrator can be a supervisor, supervisor in another department, coworker, or someone who is not employed by the film studio, such as a client or customer. It is up to the employer to keep the workplace as safe as possible for every single employee.

What Laws Protect Me From Sexual Harassment?


The film industry has brought countless hours of entertainment to the masses for over a century. But what goes on the behind the camera is a stain on the history of film. For decades, executives and management could get away with sexually harassing their employees with promises of promotion and stardom. It wasn’t until 1964 that it officially became an illegal practice throughout the federal landscape.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees because of certain protected characteristics like race, religion, country of origin, and sex. The courts have also ruled that harassment is a kind of discrimination, and so sexual harassment is considered sexual discrimination, which is against the law.

If your employer has subjected you to sexual harassment, they are in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and you are within your right to sue your employer.

How Can I Sue My Employer?


In order to properly sue your employer, you must follow a procedure mandated by all discrimination cases. Before you can take your employer to court, you must first file a charge with an employment government agency. There is one at the federal level and at the state level, both of which are available to you.

The agency at the federal level is called the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and enforces the federal anti-discrimination laws that are in place to protect certain groups of people from employment discrimination, including sexual harassment.

The agency which resides at the state level in the state of California is named the Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH). Like the EEOC, it enforces the anti-discrimination laws of the land, only it does it at the state level.

The EEOC and DFEH both protect your rights, and so you can file your charge with either agency. They are in a work-sharing agreement which means that when you file a charge with one agency, an identical copy is made and sent to the other agency. This process of duplicating charges is known as dual-filing and serves to not only keep everything organized in their records but also to best protect your rights under both state and federal law.

Normally, under the protections of the EEOC, you’d have 180 days to file your charge – that’s the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is the time limit you have to file your charge if the time expires you no longer have the right to sue nor collect any compensation which would have been available to you. The statute of limitations is extended to 300 calendar days if both federal anti-discrimination laws and state anti-discrimination laws both offer protection on the same basis. In this instance, sexual harassment is against federal and state laws, and so your statute of limitations is 300 calendar day from the day you last experienced the harassment.

When your charge is reviewed, you can request a “right-to-sue” letter. This letter gives you the go-ahead to properly sue your employer and take them to court.  We recommend that you only request this letter once you and your attorney are ready to go to court as you only have 90 days to take action against your employer.

If you have been sexually discriminated by your employer at your film studio, you have the right to file a sexual harassment lawsuit. We at the California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group are here to ensure that you get the compensation to which you are entitled. We offer free consultation and the zero-fee guarantee, so there’s no financial risk on your part because we will not charge you a penny unless we are able to prove our case and get you the restitution which you deserve. Contact us today to see what we can do for you.