Hostile Environments and Professional Harassment
Harassment isn’t always overt—it can be a subtle, pervasive pattern of behavior that makes your job impossible to perform. When an employer allows a hostile environment to persist, or worse, fires the professional who dares to report it, they have crossed a clear legal line.
We represent professionals who have endured harassment and the subsequent retaliation that often follows. We focus on building the evidentiary record—emails, witness statements, and internal logs—needed to prove that the conduct was both unwelcome and severe enough to violate the law.
Maryland law recently lowered the legal threshold for sexual harassment claims. Unlike the federal "severe or pervasive" standard, Maryland’s Fair Employment Practices Act now defines harassment as conduct that a reasonable person would find to be more than a "petty slight or trivial inconvenience," significantly expanding protections for state workers.
Once an employer is put on notice of harassment, they are legally required under both Maryland and federal law to take prompt and effective remedial action. We represent professionals in cases where the employer either ignored the harassment or, more commonly, targeted the victim for termination after they reported the misconduct.
A Litigation-First Approach to Harassment
Fortis is a litigation boutique, not a high-volume settlement mill. We take select harassment cases where we can invest the significant resources necessary to hold both the employer and the individual harassers accountable. We build every case with the expectation of going to a jury.
Our Sexual Harassment Attorneys
Attorney
Nathan Holliman
Nathan Holliman is an attorney at Fortis Employment Law specializing in high-stakes employment disputes. A Peggy Browning Fellow with an elite background in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Nathan leverages sophisticated negotiation strategies to secure leverage and results for recently terminated Maryland professionals.
FAQs
What if HR ignored my complaint?
If you reported harassment and the company did nothing—or worse, fired you for "causing drama"—they have opened the door to a significant retaliation and harassment lawsuit under Maryland law.
What if I quit instead of being fired?
This is called "constructive discharge." If the harassment was so severe that no reasonable person could be expected to stay, the law treats your resignation like a firing. These are difficult cases that require extensive documentation of the hostile environment.
Do I have to report harassment to HR before I can sue?
In most cases, yes. To hold an employer liable for a "hostile work environment," you generally must show you used the company's internal reporting system and they failed to take effective action. However, if you were fired for refusing a sexual advance by a supervisor, the rules are different.