Dundalk Workplace Sexual Harassment Lawyer

Workplace Sexual Harassment Lawyer Dundalk, MD

If you’re dealing with sexual harassment in your workplace whether it’s unwelcome advances, inappropriate comments, quid pro quo demands from a supervisor, or a hostile environment that your employer has ignored, Maryland law gives you the right to fight back. And recent changes to that law have made it significantly easier to do so.

Our Dundalk, MD workplace sexual harassment lawyer at Eric Siegel Law represents employees who have been subjected to illegal harassment on the job. We handle claims under both Maryland’s Fair Employment Practices Act and federal Title VII, pursuing the full range of damages these laws provide. If your employer created the problem or looked the other way while it happened, we hold them accountable.

Why Choose Eric Siegel Law for Sexual Harassment Cases in Dundalk, MD?

Attorneys Who Started on the Enforcement Side

Eric L. Siegel, the firm’s founder, spent the early years of his career as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. He knows how civil rights protections are enforced at the federal level because he did that work himself. For more than 30 years since, he has represented individuals such as employees, whistleblowers, people whose rights were violated in complex litigation across Maryland, D.C., and New York.

Eric is a graduate of UCLA School of Law and Tufts University. He holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating and has been recognized by Best Lawyers (2023), Avvo (10.0 rating), and TopVerdict.com (Top 100 Jury Verdicts, Labor & Employment, 2022). He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit, the Fourth and Fifth Circuits, and numerous federal district courts.

Senior Counsel Andrew Schroeder has litigated harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims for over 20 years. His J.D. is from the University of Virginia School of Law, and he has represented employees before the EEOC, the Department of Labor, and the Merit Systems Protection Board. Andrew’s work spans industries from pharmaceuticals and government contracting to healthcare and banking, fields where power imbalances often fuel harassment.

Our firm handles employment litigation throughout Dundalk and Baltimore County with the intensity that harassment cases require.

Real Results, Real Accountability

Eric Siegel Law has helped clients recover millions of dollars in employment and civil rights cases. In harassment claims, available damages include back pay, compensatory damages for emotional distress, punitive damages in certain circumstances, and attorney’s fees. We pursue each case with the goal of full accountability.

Satisfied Clients

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“I had a great experience working with Eric. From the very beginning, he was professional, responsive, and genuinely kind. He took the time to explain everything clearly, responded promptly to all my questions, and made sure I understood my options at every step. I always felt that he had my best interests in mind.” – John Paul Hayes

Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.

Types of Sexual Harassment Cases We Handle in Dundalk

Sexual harassment at work takes many forms. Some involve a single, severe incident. Others involve a pattern of conduct that builds over weeks, months, or years. Our harassment attorneys in Dundalk, MD handle cases across the full spectrum.

• Quid pro quo harassment. A supervisor conditions a promotion, raise, favorable assignment, or continued employment on sexual favors. Or an employee is punished for refusing. This is one of the most clear-cut forms of workplace harassment, and Maryland law treats it seriously.
• Hostile work environment. Persistent unwelcome conduct such as sexual jokes, explicit images, groping, degrading comments that interferes with your ability to do your job. Under Maryland’s updated law, this conduct no longer needs to be “severe or pervasive” to be actionable. The standard is now based on the totality of the circumstances.
• Retaliation after reporting. You told HR. You filed a complaint. You cooperated with an investigation. Then your employer punished you for it. Retaliation for reporting harassment is independently illegal under both state and federal law.
• Harassment by coworkers or third parties. Your harasser doesn’t need to be your boss. If a coworker, client, vendor, or customer is harassing you and your employer knows about it but fails to act, the employer can be held liable. We pursue these claims when the company’s negligence allowed the conduct to continue.
• Harassment based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Maryland’s FEPA explicitly prohibits harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These protections extend beyond what federal law has traditionally covered, and our firm has particular depth in discrimination litigation involving these claims.
• Constructive discharge. Sometimes the harassment is so bad that you’re forced to quit. Under Maryland law, a resignation prompted by intolerable working conditions can be treated as a wrongful termination. We evaluate whether your situation qualifies.

Maryland Legal Requirements for Sexual Harassment Claims

Maryland’s Fair Employment Practices Act (State Government Article § 20-601 et seq.) defines sexual harassment and prohibits it in the workplace. In 2022, the legislature passed Senate Bill 450, which eliminated the old “severe or pervasive” standard. Now, courts evaluate harassment based on the totality of the circumstances including the frequency and nature of the conduct using a reasonable person standard. That change matters. It means that conduct that courts previously dismissed as “not bad enough” can now support a claim.

Several other changes to Maryland law in recent years have strengthened protections for employees:

Harassment claims can now be brought against employers with just one employee, down from the previous threshold of 15. Independent contractors are also covered. The statute of limitations for filing a complaint with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights is two years for harassment claims, and the deadline for filing a private lawsuit is three years. Employers can be held liable for harassment by supervisors, and for harassment by nonsupervisory employees if the employer was negligent in preventing or correcting the conduct.

On the federal side, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees. The EEOC filing deadline is 300 days when a state agency like the MCCR is involved. Maryland’s broader protections often make it the stronger vehicle for workplace harassment claims.

Employers with 50 or more employees must also report prior sexual harassment settlements to the MCCR, a transparency measure that reflects how seriously Maryland treats these cases.

Important Aspects of a Dundalk Sexual Harassment Case

Documenting the Harassment

Write it down. Every incident: what happened, when, where, who was present. Save text messages, emails, voicemails, photos. If there are witnesses, note their names. This kind of contemporaneous documentation is often the backbone of a successful case. Many clients come to us wishing they had started documenting sooner. We help you gather evidence from the first consultation forward.

Internal Complaints and HR

Most employers have a policy requiring you to report harassment to HR. Following that process matters, not because HR will necessarily fix the problem, but because it creates a record and may affect your employer’s legal defenses. If your employer knew about the harassment and did nothing, that failure becomes central to your claim. We advise clients on how to report effectively while protecting their legal position.

Understanding the Employer’s Liability

Maryland law holds employers directly liable when a supervisor commits harassment. For nonsupervisory harassers, the employer is liable if it knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to take prompt corrective action. Many sexual harassment cases hinge on what the employer knew and when and whether the response was adequate. That is exactly where our attorneys focus their investigation.

The Totality of Circumstances Standard

Under the old rule, courts sometimes dismissed harassment cases because the conduct wasn’t “severe or pervasive” enough. That standard is gone in Maryland. Courts now consider all relevant factors: the nature of the conduct, its frequency, whether it was physically threatening or humiliating, and whether it unreasonably interfered with the employee’s work. A pattern of what the employer calls “minor” behavior can absolutely sustain a claim under this framework.

Damages in Maryland Harassment Cases

Employees who prevail on sexual harassment claims can recover back pay, front pay, compensatory damages for emotional distress, and in some circumstances punitive damages. Attorney’s fees and litigation costs are also recoverable. The specific damages depend on whether the claim proceeds under Maryland law, federal law, or both. In many cases, pursuing claims under both statutes simultaneously provides the broadest path to full compensation.

Retaliation Is a Separate Claim

If your employer retaliated against you for reporting harassment like termination, demotion, schedule changes, negative performance reviews, that retaliation is independently actionable. Many clients end up with both a harassment claim and a retaliation claim, and the retaliation claim is sometimes the stronger of the two.

Contact Eric Siegel Law

If you’ve been subjected to sexual harassment at work, you don’t have to accept it. Maryland law provides real remedies like financial compensation, accountability, and legal consequences for employers who tolerate or enable this conduct.

Eric Siegel Law represents employees throughout Dundalk, Baltimore County, and the greater Maryland area. We handle harassment cases with the discretion and seriousness they deserve.

Contact us for a confidential consultation. We will listen, assess your situation honestly, and explain your options clearly.