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Three Haeggquist & Eck Attorneys Named California Super Lawyers; Alreen Haeggquist, Amber Eck Named to Top 25 Women, Top 50 Attorneys Lists

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We’re thrilled to announce that Haeggquist & Eck attorneys Alreen Haeggquist, Amber Eck, and Aaron Olsen have been selected to the 2021 California Super Lawyers list. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers statewide are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.

Alreen Haeggquist and Amber Eck were each also selected for inclusion in the Top 25 Women San Diego Super Lawyers list and the Top 50 San Diego Super Lawyers list.

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive, and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.

Please join us in congratulating Alreen, Amber and Aaron for this incredible honor! (And check out our ad in this year’s San Diego Super Lawyers magazine)

Hostile Work Environment & Quid Pro Quo: Two Types of Sexual Harassment

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When you think about what sexual harassment is, you may think about the specific behaviors that constitute sexual harassment – such as unwanted touching, groping or sexual comments. Legally, however, there are two specific categories of sexual harassment — hostile work environment and quid pro quo.

Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment

Most people have heard the phrase “hostile work environment.” However, a hostile work environment is not, as many assume it to be, a workplace where employees feel overworked or micromanaged. It’s not even a place where a boss is constantly yelling or throwing things. Legally, a hostile work environment is a hostility based on an employee’s membership in a protected class, such as their race, gender, sexual orientation or disability. The harassment must be serious and pervasive – not just an isolated or occasional off-the-cuff remark – and make it nearly impossible for you to do your job. The following behaviors are examples of conduct that can lead to a hostile work environment:
  • Unwanted physical contact of any kind
  • Verbal comments about a person’s appearance or body, even if intended as a compliment
  • Derogatory comments or “jokes” that malign a particular sex
  • Attachments or links in company emails or instant messages that contain pornographic or sexually offensive material
  • Displaying imagery or messages of a sexual nature in the workplace
Anyone at a company can contribute to the creation of a hostile work environment. This includes business owners, executives, managers, supervisors, regular employees, independent contractors, and other such personnel. When employees experience inappropriate behavior, they must first make it clear to the perpetrator that the conduct is unwelcome and tell management of the situation. If the company doesn’t intervene in a meaningful manner to stop the sexual harassment from reoccurring, then the employee should seek an employment law attorney to help them assert their rights.

Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment

The second type of sexual harassment is known as “quid pro quo.” This is a Latin phrase that means “this for that,” and implies there is an exchange taking place. Within the context of sexual harassment in the workplace, that exchange is often a career incentive for a sexual favor. Unlike a hostile work environment, quid pro quo is also characterized by a power dynamic that concerns someone who has authority over an employee, to whom the offer is made. Workplace incentives the authority figure may offer in exchange for a sexual favor include the following:
  • Pay raise
  • Promotion
  • Placement on a preferred account
  • Job security during a round of layoffs
  • Protection from termination for otherwise justifiable motives
If any of the benefits listed above is contingent upon a subordinate performing a sexual favor for a superior, then quid pro quo sexual harassment has occurred. Offers may be explicit or implied, and they need neither be accepted nor completed. Merely proposing the offer is all it takes to cross the line.

Do You Need Legal Assistance?

If you believe you experienced sexual harassment at work in either of its forms, it’s important to reach out to an attorney as soon as possible. By evaluating your situation, a lawyer like one of ours at Haeggquist & Eck, LLP can offer potential options to help you take the next step with your claim. We are committed and driven to helping employees assert their rights, especially after they’ve experienced sexual harassment. When you work with Haeggquist & Eck, LLP, we can help you pursue the compensation you are entitled to. For more information about our services or to schedule a free initial consultation, please contact us online or call (619) 342-8000 today.

Are Employers Liable For Sexual Harassment Caused By Clients & Customers?

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When people think about sexual harassment at work, they typically imagine it within the confines of people employed by the same company. While this is not a misconception about the dynamics of most cases of sexual harassment at work, it’s an incomplete picture.

Employees can and do experience sexual misconduct and abuse from their employer’s customers and clients. Known as third-party sexual harassment, this phenomenon isn’t often spoken about during the same breath as what occurs between coworkers or employees and their supervisors. While that may be the case, the employer may be no less liable for failing to take action if an employee reports harassment coming from someone with whom the employer does business.

As with sexual harassment occurring among those employed by the same company, instances involving third parties must be so severe or pervasive enough that a hostile work environment is created. This can easily be the case if a client who frequently visits the company propositions a receptionist or even just once inappropriately touches the project manager assigned to their account.

When Does an Employer’s Liability Begin?

While third-party sexual harassment is different because of the people involved and the employer’s level of authority (or lack thereof) over them – and those are important differences – it’s not much different otherwise.

When employees experience sexual misconduct or abuse from their employer’s customers or clients, they must report the activity so that the employer has a chance to resolve the issue. It’s only when the employer becomes aware of the problem that they assume liability to address and correct it.

Employees may fear that reporting someone with whom their employer does business will affect their employment, but under no circumstances can an employer legally retaliate against the employee for filing a sexual harassment claim – even if it’s against someone who represents a revenue stream to the company.

Just as with internal cases of sexual harassment, the employer must elevate the sexual harassment report above all other business priorities and take action to correct the issue.

In some cases, such corrective action may include:

  • Directly addressing the matter with the client by making it clear that the behavior is inappropriate and won’t be tolerated
  • Changing the location of the employee’s workstation to limit interaction with the client
  • Placing another employee on the client’s account
  • Asking the client to send over a new representative
  • Dropping the client

These are merely a few of the possible ways that an employer can and should intervene to protect their employee – and again, doing so ought to be the employer’s priority.

Employers Must Avoid Unintentional Punishment For Reporting

While employers are prohibited by law from overtly retaliating against employees who report sexual harassment, they must also take care to ensure that any corrective actions they pursue to address the misconduct don’t unintentionally punish the employee.

Such can be the case when an employer immediately decides to remove an employee earning a commission from a high-performing account without consulting with the employee. Sending the employee elsewhere in the company where he or she would be making less of a commission than before could be viewed as retaliation for reporting sexual harassment.

Under circumstances such as this, an employer wouldn’t be wrong to open a discussion with the employee about how the problem can be agreeably mitigated without adversely impacting the employee. Regardless, employees should not find themselves in the place of making concessions to avoid being mistreated by their employer’s customers or clients – if the problem absolutely cannot be otherwise mitigated, the employer may be left with no option but to drop the client.

Contact Haeggquist & Eck, LLP for Assistance

At Haeggquist & Eck, LLP, we proudly represent employees who need to hold their employers accountable for violations of their rights at work. Sexual harassment is a key issue in employment law, and our attorneys frequently assist clients who have experienced it and decide to pursue fair and just compensation from their employers.

Get in touch with us today to schedule a free initial consultation with someone who can help. Call (619) 342-8000 or fill out our online contact form to reach someone at our firm.

Three Haeggquist & Eck Attorneys Named To Prestigious “Best Lawyers of America” List

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Three attorneys at San Diego employment and consumer rights firm Haeggquist & Eck have been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2021.

  • Partner Alreen Heggquist was selected by her peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America© 2021 in the field of Consumer Protection Law;
  • Partner Amber Eck was included in the Best Lawyers in America© 2021 for her work in Securities Litigation; and
  • Associate Ian Pike received a 2021 Best Lawyers: Ones To Watch recognition for Labor and Employment Law – Employee.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Almost 108,000 industry leading lawyers are eligible to vote (from around the world), and we have received over 13 million evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. For the 2021 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©, 9.4 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in more than 67,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed.

To schedule your free initial consultation, contact us online or call (619) 342-8000 today!

Haeggquist & Eck, LLP Featured in San Diego Super Lawyers Magazine

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Employee and consumer rights advocates Alreen Haeggquist and Amber Eck were featured in a cover story of a recent San Diego issue of Super Lawyers Magazine, delving into each attorney’s backstory and how the firm took on – and beat – Trump University and other major defendants.

The extensive piece covers Haeggquist’s roots in Pakistan and Eck’s in Montana, and how both attorneys’ lives would develop to eventually intertwine to form Haeggquist & Eck, LLP – San Diego’s most notable employee and consumer rights law firm, and arguably among the most notable in the country.

That’s because the firm has racked up an impressive string of high-profile cases against major players including the Salk Institute, Fairmont Grand, and President Donald Trump and Trump University, which is explored in detail throughout the Super Lawyers Magazine Piece.

For more information about Haeggquist & Eck, LLP’s victories in consumer rights and employment law cases, check out their cover article in Super Lawyers Magazine or reach out to the firm online!

Four Haeggquist & Eck Attorneys Named California Super Lawyers; Alreen Haeggquist Named To Top 25 Women, Top 50 Attorneys Lists

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We’re thrilled to announce that Haeggquist & Eck attorneys Alreen Haeggquist, Amber Eck, Aaron Olsen, and Jenna Rangel have been selected to the 2019 California Super Lawyers list.  Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers statewide are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.

Haeggquist, the firm’s founding partner, was also selected for inclusion in the Top 25 Women San Diego Super Lawyers list and the Top 50 San Diego Super Lawyers list.

In addition, senior associate Jenna Rangel has been selected to the 2019 California Rising Star list.  No more than 2.5 percent of lawyers in California receive this honor each year.

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.  The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area.  The result is a credible, comprehensive, and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.

Please join us in congratulating Alreen, Amber, Aaron, and Jenna for this incredible honor!

To schedule your free initial consultation, contact us online or call (619) 342-8000 today!

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