Received a Harassment Complaint? Get Guidance Before You Respond.

If you need a harassment complaint attorney for employers Florida companies work with, the attorney’s job is to advise the business. A harassment complaint attorney for employers in Florida helps the company respond to a complaint, run a fair internal review, and handle any charge filed with a state or federal agency. The attorney represents the company, not the employee who complained or the employee accused. This page explains what counts as harassment, how an investigation is built, and how an agency charge moves forward.

What a Harassment Complaint Attorney Does for Florida Employers

A harassment complaint attorney helps the company decide what to do after a complaint, from the first report through any agency charge.

The client is the employer. Counsel advises the company on its duties, its records, and its responses. Counsel does not represent the individual employees involved.

Complaints reach a business in different ways:

• An internal report from an employee, supervisor, or manager.
• A demand letter from a lawyer for the person who complained.
• A charge filed with a state or federal agency.

Each one calls for a different first response. A demand letter moves on its own timeline, and an agency charge brings formal deadlines.

This work fits owners, executives, and HR managers with staff in Miami-Dade, Broward, and South Florida. It also fits employers who want advice before a complaint arrives.

What Counts as Harassment Under Florida Law?

Workplace harassment usually involves unwelcome conduct tied to a protected trait. Florida’s main employment statute bars employers from discriminating because of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status. The statute uses the word “handicap” for disability.

The law applies to employers with 15 or more employees for each working day in 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. Businesses below that count fall outside this definition. The law’s definition of “person” includes partnerships and other commercial entities, so it reaches companies as well as individuals.

Two common types of harassment claims are:

Complaints often involve unwanted touching, sexual comments, or repeated jokes about race or religion.

Retaliation is a separate risk. The law also makes it unlawful to discriminate against someone who opposed an unlawful practice or took part in a charge, investigation, or hearing.

What the Service Covers

The service covers the employer’s side of a harassment matter, from intake through any agency response.

• Complaint intake: how to document a complaint and who receives it.
• Investigation design: interview scope, document collection, and written findings.
• Policy review: anti-harassment policies and reporting steps that match Florida and federal requirements.
• Agency charges: position statements and document production for FCHR or EEOC charges.
• Corrective action: discipline and separation decisions tied to a complaint.
• Retaliation prevention: how complainants and witnesses are treated during and after the process.
• Ongoing counsel: outside general counsel for employment questions beyond a single complaint.

One policy point matters. Under Florida law, policy statements in an employee manual do not create enforceable contract rights unless the manual says, in specific language, that it is a separate employment contract. See Quaker Oats v. Jewell.

How an Internal Harassment Investigation Is Structured

An internal investigation moves through six steps: intake, scope, interviews, findings, corrective action, and a written outcome.

1. Intake. Log the complaint in writing, acknowledge it, and consider steps to separate the people involved.
2. Scope. Define what must be examined, who must be interviewed, and which emails and messages must be kept.
3. Interviews. Speak with the complainant, the accused, and witnesses. Keep notes and explain confidentiality.
4. Findings. Weigh the evidence and reach conclusions based on the facts gathered.
5. Corrective action. Match any response to the findings and to how the company handled similar cases before.
6. Written outcome. Tell the parties the result in writing and keep the file for later review.

How long this takes depends on the facts, mainly how many witnesses there are and how much evidence needs review. A common mistake is skipping the written record. A company that cannot show what it reviewed, and why it decided, has a harder time later.

What to Do in the First Days After a Complaint

In the first days, preserve evidence, protect the people involved, and limit who sees the complaint.

• Preserve documents, emails, and messages right away, including texts on personal phones used for work.
• Keep discussion of the complaint narrow. Do not retaliate against the person who raised it.
• Consider interim steps, such as schedule or reporting-line changes, and write down why you chose them.
• Share the complaint only with the decision-makers who need it.
• Speak with employment counsel before you respond in writing to the complainant or an agency.

Retaliation deserves close attention. Florida’s private whistleblower law protects employees who object to, or refuse to take part in, a practice that violates a law, rule, or regulation. See Gessner v. Southern Co.

Florida law also generally protects confidential communications made to get legal advice.

How Responding to an FCHR or EEOC Charge Works

An agency charge starts a formal process that the employer must answer.

• Where charges go. A charge can go to the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR) or the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The FCHR says charges under Florida law must be filed within 365 days. See FCHR frequently asked questions.
• Lawsuit deadline.
• Possible remedies. A court may order back pay and award compensatory damages, including damages for mental anguish. Punitive damages for each aggrieved person may not exceed $100,000. The right to a jury trial is preserved.
• Position statement. The employer’s written response and documents usually come first, and they shape how the agency views the case.
• Mediation. Mediation may be offered. Mediation communications are generally confidential, but a signed written settlement is not confidential unless the parties agree.

For more on the agency side, see our FCHR charge response page.

Why Employers Work With KEW Legal on Harassment Complaints

KEW Legal is a Florida business law firm, and it works with employers as outside general counsel for business owners and investors. For employers across Miami-Dade and South Florida, the firm handles harassment complaints as part of that broader role.

• The firm has offices in Coral Gables and Sunny Isles Beach.
• Employment law for employers is one of the firm’s practice areas. It covers complaint response, investigations, and agency charges.
• Employment questions often sit alongside contracts, leases, and ownership issues. The firm can advise on the whole picture.
• Our lawyers help coordinate document preservation, investigation planning, and agency deadlines, so the business can keep operating during a matter.
• Kristina E. Wilson, one of the firm’s lawyers, is responsible for this page.

The first consultation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation to continue. You can reach the firm at 305-990-2300 or through the contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions