Workplace sexual harassment lawsuits and complaints are on the rise since allegations of pervasive sexual misconduct against Steve Wynn and Harvey Weinstein were made public.

Las Vegas lawyer Paul Padda said there has been a significant increase in calls to his office after the #MeToo movement gained traction in 2017 and especially since news reports of the allegations against Wynn. Padda, known for “Sue My Boss” billboards seen around Las Vegas, says before the #MeToo movement most of his cases came as referrals from lawyers. Now they often come directly from affected employees.

“Claimants feel less apprehensive about making allegations or pursuing their legal rights,” said Padda. “Steve Wynn is a recognized giant in Las Vegas. I believe society has reached a tipping point where powerful people are no longer immune from having their conduct questioned. So while we previously had a significant practice in this area, the Steve Wynn episode has localized the ‘me too’ movement and made sexual harassment victims feel empowered to now speak up, even in Sin City.”

Padda said his clients, both men and women, have experienced a wide variety of sexual harassment.

“Everything from catcalls, inappropriate teasing, being asked out on dates by supervisors under duress, to physical assault of a sexual kind. One of the most extreme cases we had was a cocktail waitress who was nearly raped by her supervisor,” Padda said.

There isn’t any particular resort or casino that Padda said he can pinpoint as a greater contributor to sexual harassment lawsuits. He does say sexual harassment has historically been a problem in Las Vegas given the nature of the city. But he sees changes coming.

“As Strip properties grow larger -- more sophisticated, more corporatized -- smart employers are realizing it's not just bad for employee morale, it can actually destroy a company,” he said.

Attorney Kristina Holman, who has practiced employment law in Las Vegas since 1990, also says she has noticed an increase in harassment-related calls recently.

“I cannot give hard numbers,” said Holman. “But there has been an influx. Unfortunately, people are talking about cases from years ago. I think after Weinstein, women felt empowered to speak up. I think people are being educated more on sexual harassment.”

Most of the women who are calling Holman -- she says she only recalls representing a few men who were on the receiving end of sexual harassment -- are reporting incidents that happened years ago. Most do not meet the criteria for illegal behavior, though.

Courts require misconduct to be either pervasive -- frequent and spread throughout the organization to a large degree -- or severe to deem such conduct illegal. But even that definition, of what is pervasive or severe, is largely left at the discretion of a judge and jury.

“‘Hostile work environment’ is not the same to the law as it is to a layperson,” Holman said. “If you are groped in inappropriate places, believe it or not, it’s not pervasive to some courts. The standard is ‘severe’ or ‘pervasive.’ Some courts may not recognize being groped to be severe, but in some cases, it may. It is a case-by-case determination as to whether that conduct - even if you are groped twice - is severe or pervasive in a court.”

A court could recognize actions to be sexual harassment if the acts are unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.

Law firms such as Holman’s and Padda’s aren’t the only ones seeing an increase in calls about sexual harassment.

The number of persons trained in anti-harassment sessions by the Nevada Equal Rights Commission (NERC) has increased significantly since the fiscal year 2015 when it trained 678 people. In the fiscal year 2017, there were 2,029 persons trained and there have been another 1,060 persons trained since the start of the 2018 fiscal year in July.

NERC spokesperson Rosa Mendez says the increase in training requests may be attributed to the commission having a full-time employee promoting their training sessions.

NERC works with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate complaints of discrimination filed with the commission by an employee. A statement on its website says prevention was the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace.

Spokesperson Rosa Mendez said settlement costs paid by employers and organizations for all NERC charges, not just sexual harassment, for the fiscal year 2017 was $1,423,188. For the 2018 fiscal year to date, it is $1,057,614.

Holman says she hopes the increase in sexual harassment awareness won’t become “a blip on the radar.”

“Everybody is upset, and it will die down,” says Holman. “I hope this is a movement and people know they cannot get away with sexual harassment anymore. I feel it is going to be a major change in our history and in our Civil Rights Act.”

Disclosure: Wynn Resorts has donated to The Nevada Independent. You can see a full list of donors here.