Are You In Legal Trouble For Flirting At Work? What To Know
Were you flirting with someone at work and then found out that they are pressing charges against you for sexual harassment? Do you think the charges are unfair and worry that you are going to lose your job and have the charges on your permanent record? If so, you want to hire a lawyer fast.
There are a lot of different things that will affect your case, like the type of flirting you participated in and your relationship with the co-worker. Here is some important information you need to bring with you to meet with your criminal attorney.
Documented Relationship
Do you have a long standing, friendly work relationship with this person, and you have never had any conflict in the past years working together? If so, this will help your case, because it shows that you didn't mean anything malicious or harmful with your comments, but instead you were being friendly with someone whom you considered a friend. You want to have all of the information about your relationship compiled.
If the two of you have a bad relationship or if you are in management or a higher position than the person, it may show that they are using the comments to get you in trouble out of jealousy.
Eye Witnesses
Were there eye witnesses when the comments were made who can state there were no harmed feelings when they were said? Do have coworkers that will say the other person flirted back, didn't seem upset, or that they stayed and participated in other conversations? If so, it can show that they decided later on to be upset or take action, because they knew it would hurt you or get you in trouble. They may also be doing it because of pressure from someone else.
If there are people around the work place that will state the coworker has a problem with you, is jealous of you, or that they are deliberately trying to get you fired, this could work in your favor.
Since the incident was verbal and isn't in writing, it may be hard to find the conversation recorded on tape, unless you have interior cameras in the office. You'll want to talk with a lawyer right away to make sure that you get ahead of the situation, and so you can try to preserve your job and your reputation by avoiding any type of sexual harassment charges.