Sexual Harassment Lawyer in San Francisco

If you experienced sexual harassment at a San Francisco workplace, you have strong protections under California law. We represent employees only, never employers, and offer a free, confidential consultation. 1-800-371-3088.

What Is Sexual Harassment in San Francisco

Sexual harassment in San Francisco happens in the same places you go every day: hospital wards at UCSF Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, CPMC, Dignity Health Saint Francis and St. Mary's, Chinese Hospital, and ZSFG; tech offices and engineering bays at Salesforce, Uber, Lyft, OpenAI, X/Twitter, Airbnb, Block, Pinterest, Reddit, Stripe, and LinkedIn; hotel housekeeping floors and front-of-house at Hilton Union Square, Marriott Marquis, Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, Fairmont, Westin St. Francis, Four Seasons, and Ritz-Carlton; restaurant kitchens, bars, and dining rooms across the city; and City and County of San Francisco, SFUSD, SFMTA, and UCSF workplaces. The most common SF pattern is unwanted touching, comments, or pressure from a supervisor, coworker, patient, or hotel guest, followed by retaliation when the worker reports it.

San Francisco Industries Where Sexual Harassment Is Most Common

• Healthcare workers - at UCSF Medical Center (Parnassus, Mission Bay, Mt. Zion), UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, Sutter / CPMC, Dignity Health Saint Francis and St. Mary's, Chinese Hospital, and ZSFG.
• Hotel housekeepers and front-of-house staff - at Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Marriott Marquis, Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, Fairmont, Westin St. Francis, Four Seasons, and Ritz-Carlton.
• Restaurant servers, bartenders, and cooks - throughout downtown, SoMa, the Mission, the Marina, North Beach, the Ferry Building, and the Embarcadero.
• Tech workers - at Salesforce, Uber, Lyft, OpenAI, X/Twitter, Airbnb, Block (Square), Pinterest, Reddit, Stripe, Asana, and LinkedIn.
• Financial-services workers - at Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab, Visa, BlackRock, Bank of the West, and First Republic / JPMorgan.
• Public-sector workers - at the City and County of San Francisco, SFUSD, SFMTA, SF Department of Public Health, BART, CCSF, and UCSF.

San Francisco City Protections

San Francisco harassment claims are governed by FEHA (Cal. Government Code section 12940(j)), which covers any SF employer with 1+ employees for harassment claims, and by federal Title VII for employers with 15+ employees. California also requires sexual-harassment prevention training for all employees of companies with 5+ workers (Cal. Government Code section 12950.1). For hospital workers at UCSF, CPMC, Kaiser SF, Dignity Health Saint Francis and St. Mary's, and ZSFG, California Health and Safety Code section 1278.5 protects workers who raise patient-safety concerns with a $25,000-per-violation civil penalty. SF Police Code Article 49 (Fair Chance Ordinance) and the SF Lactation in the Workplace Ordinance (SF Police Code Article 33A) add SF-specific protections that stack on top of state law.

California Law

California gives you broad statewide protection against sexual harassment. For the full statutory framework, deadlines, and how the state laws fit together, see our California employment law page and the in-depth California Sexual Harassment Guide.

What Compensation Can You Recover

California does not cap damages for sexual harassment claims. For a full breakdown of what you can recover, see the California Sexual Harassment Guide.

How to File a Sexual Harassment Claim in San Francisco

Civil employment lawsuits filed by San Francisco workers are heard at the Civic Center Courthouse, 400 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 (Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco). For agency contacts, deadlines, and the full filing process, see our California employment law page. We handle the filing process for you, call us at 1-800-371-3088 before any deadline.