If you've experienced workplace sexual harassment, you're likely wondering what compensation you might receive. Settlement values vary widely based on the severity of harassment, available evidence, and employer conduct. Understanding these factors helps you evaluate settlement offers and make informed decisions.
Factors Affecting Settlement Value
Several factors influence what harassment cases are worth:
Severity of harassment: Physical assault or explicit quid pro quo commands higher settlements than verbal harassment alone.
Duration and frequency: Ongoing harassment over months or years typically results in higher compensation than isolated incidents.
Evidence strength: Strong documentation—texts, emails, witnesses—increases case value.
Employer response: Employers who ignored complaints, failed to investigate, or retaliated face larger damages.
Economic damages: Lost wages, job loss, and career impact increase total compensation.
Emotional impact: Documented psychological harm—therapy, medication, diagnosis—supports higher damages.
Settlement Ranges
While every case is different, general ranges include:
Minor harassment, quickly addressed: $10,000-$50,000. Verbal comments, single incidents, or situations where employer responded appropriately.
Moderate harassment, inadequate employer response: $50,000-$150,000. Ongoing harassment that employer failed to stop, or termination without strong retaliation evidence.
Severe harassment, significant damages: $150,000-$500,000. Physical contact, explicit quid pro quo, retaliation, or significant career impact.
Egregious cases: $500,000-$1 million+. Sexual assault, pattern of abuse, extreme retaliation, or institutional cover-up.
These are general guidelines—specific circumstances can push values higher or lower.
Components of Damages
Harassment settlements typically compensate for:
Back pay: Wages lost if you were terminated, demoted, or forced to quit.
Front pay: Future lost earnings if the harassment affected your career.
Emotional distress: Compensation for anxiety, depression, humiliation, and psychological harm.
Punitive damages: Additional damages punishing employer misconduct (in egregious cases).
Attorney fees: Many statutes allow recovery of legal costs.
Federal Damage Caps
Federal law (Title VII) caps combined compensatory and punitive damages based on employer size: 15-100 employees: $50,000; 101-200 employees: $100,000; 201-500 employees: $200,000; and 500+ employees: $300,000.
These caps don't apply to back pay or front pay—only compensatory and punitive damages. State laws may provide additional or uncapped remedies.
State Law Advantages
State discrimination laws often provide advantages over federal claims: no damage caps or higher caps, longer filing deadlines, broader coverage of smaller employers, and additional remedies.
Your attorney will evaluate which laws provide the best recovery in your situation.
High-Value Case Factors
Certain factors significantly increase case value: physical assault or contact; clear quid pro quo ("sleep with me or you're fired"); documented retaliation after complaint; multiple victims suggesting pattern; employer cover-up or protection of harasser; significant economic impact (job loss, career derailment); strong documentation (texts, emails, witnesses); and severe emotional harm requiring treatment.
Why Cases Settle
Most harassment cases settle rather than go to trial. Employers settle to avoid publicity, reduce legal costs, eliminate uncertainty, and get closure. Settlement also provides guaranteed compensation versus the risk of losing at trial.
Evaluating Settlement Offers
Consider these factors when evaluating offers: your likely recovery if you win at trial; the probability of winning; the time and emotional cost of continued litigation; your need for immediate funds; whether the offer fairly compensates your losses; and confidentiality terms and other conditions.
Getting Legal Help
An experienced employment attorney can evaluate your case's worth, gather evidence that increases value, negotiate effectively with employers, and advise whether settlement offers are fair. Most harassment attorneys work on contingency—you pay nothing unless they recover compensation for you.