You might be dealing with sexual comments, messages, or touching at work, and wondering how you could ever prove what is happening. Maybe the person harassing you is careful about what they say in front of others, or HR brushed you off when you tried to speak up. It can feel like no one will believe you because you do not have a video or an eyewitness willing to step forward.
For New York workers, that feeling of “it is just my word against theirs” is incredibly common, but it is not the full story. New York law, especially in New York City, gives you more protection than many people realize. With some careful steps, you can start turning what feels like a private, hidden experience into documented sexual harassment evidence that matters in NY investigations, negotiations, and courtrooms.
At Ricotta & Marks, P.C., we focus on employment law for New York workers, including people facing sexual harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination. With more than 35 years of combined experience and offices in Queens and Long Island, we prepare harassment cases as if they will go to trial, which means we think about evidence from day one. In this guide, we share how we look at sexual harassment evidence in NY and what you can do right now to protect yourself and your case.
Why Sexual Harassment Evidence Matters in New York
Sexual harassment cases rarely turn on a single moment. More often, they involve a series of comments, messages, or boundary crossings that, taken together, create a hostile or offensive environment. In New York, including within New York City, the law recognizes that reality. The legal focus is not limited to one shocking incident. It is on whether you were treated less well at work because of your gender or sex.
Under New York City law, harassment does not need to be “severe or pervasive” in the way some federal standards require. The threshold is lower, and that matters for evidence. Repeated “jokes,” sexual remarks, or pressure for dates that might be brushed off somewhere else can still support a claim here, particularly if you document the pattern. The more specific your records are about what happened and when, the easier it can be to show that pattern.
Many people assume that without a video recording or a coworker who saw everything, there is no way to prove harassment. In our experience representing New York workers, that is not true. Agencies such as the New York State Division of Human Rights and the NYC Commission on Human Rights, as well as courts that hear these cases, often rely on credible, consistent testimony that is supported by notes, emails, text messages, HR documents, and retaliation records. The right kind of evidence can turn what feels like a “he said, she said” into a clear, documented history of misconduct.
Because we make strategic use of New York and New York City human rights laws, we think about evidence a bit differently. We look at your timeline, your documentation, and your digital records to see how they fit with these standards. In the rest of this guide, we walk through specific types of sexual harassment evidence in NY and how to start gathering them in a way that supports your rights.
Building a Contemporaneous Record
One of the most powerful things you can do, even before talking to anyone else, is to start keeping a detailed record of what is happening. Lawyers and judges often call this a “contemporaneous” record. That simply means you are writing things down close in time to when they happen, while your memory is fresh. These records can carry a lot of weight because they show you were concerned long before any lawsuit or formal complaint.
A good incident journal is specific. For each incident, write down the date, approximate time, location, who was involved, exactly what was said or done, who was nearby, and how you reacted. Try to capture the words used as closely as you can. For example, an entry might read: “March 3, around 4:15 p.m., break room on 10th floor. Supervisor John Smith stood close behind me at the coffee machine and said, ‘You look so sexy in that dress, I cannot concentrate.’ No one else in the room. I stepped away and said, ‘That is not appropriate, please stop.’ He laughed and said, ‘Relax, I am just giving you a compliment.’ I felt shaken and left the room.”
You do not need a special template to start. Use a notebook you keep at home, a notes app on your personal phone, or a secure personal email account you send notes to. Avoid saving sensitive details directly on work computers or shared systems, because employers often control those and can access or delete them. Also, avoid editing or altering official work documents to add your comments, since that can be used against you later. Keeping your record separate and personal helps protect it.
When clients bring us incident logs like this, partners at our firm review them directly, looking for patterns, escalation, gaps, and dates that may tie to emails, schedules, or performance reviews. We sometimes suggest adjustments going forward, such as noting who else might have overheard something or marking when you first complained to HR. Over time, your journal can become a detailed roadmap of what really happened, and it can refresh your memory if you are later asked to testify months or years after the fact.
Digital Sexual Harassment Evidence
In many New York sexual harassment cases, digital records become the backbone of the evidence. Harassers often send inappropriate content through text messages, emails, messaging apps, social media DMs, or internal chat tools such as Slack or Teams. These messages can feel private or fleeting in the moment, but preserved correctly, they can be compelling proof of what you went through.
Start by identifying all the channels where the harasser communicates with you. That might include your work email, your personal phone, WhatsApp or similar apps, LinkedIn messages, or internal portals. When you receive a message that feels harassing, offensive, or sexually suggestive, avoid responding in anger and do not delete it. Instead, capture it. Screenshots can be helpful, especially if they show the sender’s name, phone number, or email address, the date and time, and the content of the conversation before and after the message.
Whenever possible, preserve the original messages as well. That means keeping the text thread on your phone, the email in your inbox or a folder, or the chat log in the app. Original records may have metadata, such as timestamps or sender information, that screenshots alone cannot fully show. If you are worried about losing access, you can back up your phone, save copies of emails to a personal device, or use print-to-PDF functions, but do this in a way that does not clearly violate company policies on handling confidential information.
Be careful not to forward large amounts of internal company data or confidential documents to your personal email in a way that could give your employer a defense based on policy violations. At the same time, messages that directly involve you, such as harassing texts, sexually explicit memes sent to your work email, or emails from HR about your complaint, are often appropriate to save. In our practice, we focus on preserving what shows the pattern of harassment and the employer’s knowledge, rather than sweeping up unnecessary internal communications.
Because we prepare each case as if it might go to trial, we look at digital messages through the eyes of a potential jury or judge. Full threads often tell a stronger story than single screenshots taken out of context. For example, a series of late-night texts from a supervisor saying things like “You owe me a drink for that overtime” after you have already told them to stop can show repeated pressure and disregard for your boundaries. That is the kind of digital sexual harassment evidence NY juries and agencies regularly see, and it can significantly strengthen a claim when preserved properly.
Witnesses, Coworkers, and Patterns of Behavior
Many people assume that a witness must have seen the harasser touch them or heard every inappropriate comment. In reality, witnesses in sexual harassment cases can include anyone who saw or heard part of what happened, noticed your reaction afterward, or experienced similar behavior from the same person. Even if no one was in the room during some incidents, others might have overheard suggestive jokes, noticed you avoiding certain areas, or received similar messages or comments themselves.
As you document incidents in your journal, note who was nearby, who seemed to react, or who you spoke to right after. You do not need to confront coworkers or push them to take a side. Simply record their names and roles for your reference. If you later speak with a New York employment lawyer, this information can help identify potential witnesses. In many cases, people are more willing to speak up when they know someone is taking their concerns seriously and there is legal support behind the process.
Patterns of behavior are especially important in New York harassment claims. If a supervisor routinely comments on women’s bodies, forwards sexual memes to multiple employees, or only insists that certain employees join them for after-work drinks, those repeated acts show more than a single bad joke. They help answer a question courts and agencies care about. Was this person treating you less well because of your gender or sex, and was the workplace environment poisoned by that behavior over time?
We regularly challenge employers and institutions with significant power, and pattern evidence is often critical. Employers may argue that comments were “just joking,” “taken the wrong way,” or “isolated.” When we can point to multiple people who experienced similar conduct, or show that the same type of comment happened repeatedly over weeks or months, it becomes much harder for them to dismiss it as a misunderstanding. Your notes, combined with what others observed or experienced, can turn vague complaints into clear, documented patterns.
Internal Complaints and HR Responses as Key Evidence
How you report harassment internally, and how your employer responds, can become some of the most important sexual harassment evidence in NY cases. Written complaints, emails, and HR forms show that the company was put on notice. HR notes and follow-up emails can reveal whether the employer took your concerns seriously or tried to sweep them aside.
Whenever possible, make your complaint in writing or follow up a verbal complaint with an email. For example, after an HR meeting, you might send a message that says, “Thank you for meeting with me today about my concerns regarding John Smith’s comments and physical contact in the office. As we discussed, the incidents on March 3, March 10, and March 15 included [brief, factual description]. I look forward to hearing about the steps the company will take to address this.” This type of email confirms that you raised specific issues and gives HR a chance to correct any misunderstanding in writing.
When you draft an internal complaint, stick to facts. Include dates, times, locations, names of people involved, and a straightforward description of what was said or done. Avoid exaggerating or speculating about motives, because employers may seize on any overstatement to challenge your credibility later. You do not need legal language. Plain, direct statements are often more powerful and easier for agencies and courts to trust.
After you complain, document every step of the HR process. Save meeting invites, emails, and any written summaries HR provides. After in-person conversations, note what was discussed, who was present, and any promises made. If HR tells you they will separate you from the harasser, change your schedule, or investigate and then fails to follow through, that failure may support a claim that the employer did not act reasonably once it knew about the harassment.
In New York, human rights laws look at whether an employer knew or should have known about harassment and what it did in response. Internal complaint records are critical to that analysis. When workers bring us their HR emails, meeting notes, and policy documents, we review them in plain language with the client and give a candid assessment of how they affect the case. Sometimes the employer’s own paperwork becomes some of the strongest evidence in a sexual harassment case.
Staying Safe and Legal While Gathering Sexual Harassment Evidence
Gathering evidence should never put you at additional legal risk. New York is generally a one-party consent state for audio recordings, which means that, under state law, you can often record a conversation you are part of without telling the other person. However, company policies, federal laws in certain contexts, and privacy rules can complicate that picture. A recording that is technically allowed under state law could still violate your employer’s policies and give them an argument for discipline.
Before you record conversations at work, especially with HR or supervisors, it is wise to talk with a New York employment attorney about your specific situation. In some cases, careful note-taking and written follow-up emails can serve many of the same purposes as a recording, without raising the same risks. We regularly walk clients through the pros and cons of recordings, considering both legal rules and how a judge or jury might react if they learn a conversation was secretly recorded.
Be cautious about accessing or copying information you are not authorized to see. Downloading large amounts of confidential data, pulling other employees’ files, or trying to get around security protections can lead to separate claims against you. Focus on preserving evidence that directly involves you, your own communications, and official documents given to you or clearly available to you in the normal course of work.
Social media also deserves attention. It can feel tempting to vent about what you are going through or to ask for advice publicly. Employers and their lawyers often search social media and may use posts to argue that you were not truly upset or that your story changed over time. If you have already posted about your situation, do not start deleting things without legal advice, because that can raise questions about destroying evidence. Instead, tighten privacy settings and speak with a lawyer about how to handle existing posts.
One of the things we provide to clients is honest, realistic guidance about these boundaries. We do not encourage aggressive steps just to “get something on tape” if those steps might backfire. Our goal is to help you build strong sexual harassment evidence in NY while staying safe, employed as long as you choose to be, and within the law and reasonable workplace rules.
Contact Us Today
Sexual harassment can leave you feeling isolated and powerless, especially when the person responsible has authority or when HR seems more focused on protecting the company than listening to you. By keeping a careful incident log, preserving digital messages, documenting your complaints, and tracking any retaliation, you start to shift that balance. New York laws, including New York City protections, are built to recognize patterns of mistreatment, not just dramatic moments caught on camera, and thoughtful documentation can make those patterns visible.
Every workplace and every case is different, and there are real choices to make about how and when to report, what to save, and how to respond if your employer does not act. A conversation with a New York employment lawyer can help you understand your options and how strong your current evidence is under state and city laws. If you are dealing with sexual harassment at work and want a clear, realistic assessment of your situation, we invite you to contact Ricotta & Marks, P.C. for a confidential consultation.
Contact us today to get started with our team.