As anyone who has experienced it can testify, sexual harassment at work can make life miserable. In addition to the harassment itself, victims of such behavior often face an uphill battle to get their concerns taken seriously. 

Clearly, when it comes to sexual harassment, the stakes are high. People who suffer from sexual harassment at work may be reluctant to take legal action against their employer, but doing so may be the only way to make the harassment stop or to take a stand against employers and coworkers engaging in such terrible behavior in the future. Concerns about the process of a sexual harassment lawsuit may also be intimidating for some people. At MKFM Law, we are here to answer your questions and to make sure you get the help you need. For an overview of how sexual harassment lawsuits work, read on and then contact one of our experienced attorneys for help with your case. 

Steps in a Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

The first step in addressing sexual harassment is to file a complaint via e-mail according to your company’s anti-sexual harassment policy. When filing a formal written report with an employer does nothing to stop the sexual harassment, it may be necessary to file a claim with the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR), the Illinois state agency responsible for handling sexual harassment claims in Illinois. It is important to note that there are time limits on when complaints can be filed - you only have up to 300 days after the harassment to file a claim with the state. 

While divorce is rarely a simple process, for couples who have a high net worth or ultra high net worth, it can be even more complicated. People often feel as though more money should reduce their problems, and yet this is rarely the case - especially if you have a spouse who intends to fight you over every penny. Furthermore, high-net-worth divorce cases often involve couples with at least one spouse who is in the public eye. If you are considering divorce, but are worried about the implications it could have for your reputation, estate, and children, having the help of an Illinois divorce lawyer with experience managing complex divorces with valuable family estates can make all the difference. Here are four potential problems your attorney will help you look out for during your divorce.  

Estimating Property Value

An individual or couple with a high net worth typically has a wide variety of assets. Sometimes these assets can be hard to value because they are rare, complex, or have other part-owners. For example, ownership in a family business may mean not only valuing the business in its entirety, but valuing one spouse’s ownership, plus the portion of that ownership that the other spouse is entitled to in a divorce. 

Hidden Assets

High net-worth individuals tend to be financially savvy. While this is the result of hard work, education, and ambition, it can also sometimes entail a tendency to be less than completely honest - especially if a spouse who is tempted to hide assets feels wronged by their partner. If you are worried that your spouse might hide assets, a good indicator is whether they have ever been financially dishonest in the past. Your attorney can help you determine whether hidden assets are likely and assist you in building the necessary team to find any hidden assets. 

Parents who are divorced, separated, or never married often struggle with the limited time they get to spend with their kids. Missed holidays and big chunks of summer vacations can be tough, but so can the basic, everyday interactions that parents miss out on when their children are with their other parent. 

Illinois allows parents to potentially resolve this issue by putting a creative section in their parenting plan called “the right of first refusal.” If you and your spouse get along fairly well and you are hoping to spend more time with your children, read on to find out how having this clause could benefit you. 

Right of First Refusal and Illinois Parenting Plans

The right of first refusal is a legal term that simply describes an arrangement wherein parents seek supplemental childcare from each other before they hire a babysitter or ask a family member. Parents who want the right of first refusal can make the clause as flexible as they want; if they live close to each other and can engage in frequent childcare transactions without conflict, they may want to require the right of first refusal every time a parent has to leave the children for more than a few hours. Parents who live several hours from each other or across the border in another state may only want to include the right of first refusal when a parent is gone overnight. Whatever the arrangement may be, as long as parents both agree to abide by the terms, a judge will likely approve it. 

Nearly one in three women will be sexually harassed at work, and although workplace sexual harassment tends to affect women more often than men, men can be victims, too. Reporting sexual harassment is rarely easy and straightforward, and it can become even more complicated when power dynamics are at play. If you are being harassed at work, it is important to know your rights, as well as the potential consequences you could suffer if you do not take action to stop the sexual harassment.  

How Are Victims of Sexual Harassment Affected? 

In addition to the embarrassment and awkwardness of dealing with sexual harassment in the moment, sexually harassing actions can leave the victim feeling terrible for days, weeks, and even months afterward. Some of the physical and psychological side effects that victims report after being sexually harassed at work include, but are not limited to: 

• Nausea
• Weight loss or gain
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Headaches
• Sleep disorders 
• Sexual dysfunction 

Even people who consider themselves strong and resilient may be surprised by how poorly they feel after being harassed at work. There is no shame in admitting that a hostile workplace environment leaves you feeling shaky, anxious, or even fearful about going into work and facing the person who harasses you. You may also feel anger at people who observe the sexual harassment without intervening, or for coworkers you speak to about the behavior who fail to stand up for you.

Every child deserves to have a safe, comfortable home in which to grow up. When parents get divorced, one of the court’s main duties is to make decisions that will benefit the children of the marriage. Often, this means that one of the spouses will be compelled to make child support payments to the other in order to help them raise the children.  

When Is Child Support Awarded? 

Child support is almost universally granted to one of the spouses during a divorce that involves the parents of minor children. Illinois courts base their child support decisions on an “income shares” model. This model considers both parents’ incomes and the number of children, as well as the amount of parenting time each parent has. The amount of child support is based on an estimation of the total cost of raising the child. This cost is then equitably divided between the parents based on each of their respective net incomes. The parent with more parenting time will usually receive the support payments.  

Can I Appeal a Child Support Order? 

If you believe that a mistake was made when the court awarded child support, you have the right to appeal the decision. However, a person ordered to pay child support cannot appeal the decision just because they do not like the result. In order to appeal a child support order, a petitioner must have legal grounds to do so. For example, if you believe that insufficient evidence or prejudice played a role in the ruling, you may benefit from appealing the decision.