Megan Thomas on Fighting Workplace Sexual Harassment

Megan Thomas, sexual harassment attorney and founder of Megan Thomas Law, PLLC, joins The Female Founder to discuss why workplace sexual harassment remains one of the most underreported issues in business—and what both employees and employers need to know. Drawing from her own experiences with harassment early in her legal career, Thomas built her New York-based law firm to advocate for workers navigating hostile work environments and to help organizations create safer, more accountable workplace cultures.

Thomas shares the challenges of leaving a stable legal career to launch a specialized practice despite skepticism from peers, and why demand for her services quickly proved those doubts wrong. She explains how sexual harassment laws have evolved, why many cases still go unreported, and the importance of understanding state-specific protections before taking action. Thomas also offers practical guidance for documenting workplace misconduct, navigating conversations with HR, improving employer training, and fostering environments where employees feel safe speaking up before issues escalate.

Join us as we discuss:

•  Building a law firm inspired by personal experience with workplace harassment 
•  Leaving a secure legal career to launch a mission-driven practice 
•  Why sexual harassment remains underreported in the workplace 
•  How state laws have changed since the Me Too movement 
•  What employees should do before reporting concerns to HR 
•  Creating proactive sexual harassment training that goes beyond annual compliance 
•  The First Amendment lawsuit behind her airport billboard campaign 
•  Building workplace cultures rooted in accountability and psychological safety 

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Transcript

Welcome And Why This Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:08

This is the Female Founder Show with host and entrepreneur, Bridget Fitzpatrick, editing exclusively on ASBN.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Hello everyone. Today I'm joined by someone who is doing incredibly important work, especially for women in the workplace. Megan Thomas is a sexual harassment attorney and the founder of Megan Thomas Law, a firm dedicated to representing employees in cases involving workplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. What makes Megan's story so powerful is that this work is deeply personal. Earlier in her legal career, she experienced harassment herself, and instead of staying quiet, she built a firm and a mission around helping others find their voice and stand up for themselves. She's also taken on major institutions and won, including a high-profile case involving free speech and workplace harassment, sending a very clear message that women's voices matter. Today we're going to talk about her journey, what she's learned along the way, and just as importantly, what both individuals and business owners need to do and know to create safe, respectful workplaces. Megan, thank you so much for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Thanks so much for having me, Bridget.

Turning Harassment Into A Mission

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Now, like I said, your firm was born out of your own experience earlier in your career. Can you talk to us about that moment and what ultimately made you decide I'm not just gonna move on from this, I'm gonna build something because of it?

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Yeah, so unfortunately, like many women, it wasn't just once, it happened many times. And I think each time a seed a seed was planted the first time, and then each time it happened, I became more and more passionate, and this idea of this firm grew stronger and stronger. Um, but unfortunately, you know, the law is very male-dominated, as many other fields are. And so I first experienced it in law school. Um, unfortunately, in a pretty significant way. It was very stressful. And I was faced with two choices do I stand up and talk about this or do I stay silent? Um, and I did actually speak up about that, and that brought a lot of stress, right? And then other times in my career, I didn't speak up, and that brings a different kind of stress. So I didn't really have anyone to guide me through this, even though I was an attorney. I didn't really know the laws on sexual harassment at that time. And so I really wanted to build the firm that I would have needed when I was in those situations.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

Yeah. You know, so many of us have experienced it, and kudos to you for bringing the awareness, especially because so many people, there might even be little things that that men and women don't realize are harassment and could be cases ultimately, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Right. Yeah, definitely.

How MeToo Changed The Legal Bar

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Yeah, so after the Mean Too movement, a lot of the laws changed such that they were more protective. Um, for example, in New York, previously the standard was that harassment had to be severe or pervasive. That's a really high bar. And and women were leaving workplaces in droves because of the way they were being treated. Now the bar is much lower. In New York State specifically, other states have had similar changes to their laws since me too. And so more things constitute harassment, which means women don't have to put up with, you know, all sorts of horrible horrible behavior, being asked out, well, they only asked her out once. Well, that's that changes that dynamic of that person and the individual who asked her out, especially if it's her her superior.

SPEAKER_02 3:27

Yeah. Now, what you do every day takes a lot of courage from you and the people that you're helping.

Starting The Firm And Taking Risk

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Talk to us about um when you were starting your firm, what were some of the earlier challenges that you faced and how did you overcome them?

SPEAKER_01 3:40

So I don't think a lot of people realize that this is such a big area of the law, and a lot of other attorneys didn't think, for example, that there was enough cases out there. I have, I get so many calls every single day. My team is growing so rapidly. We we, you know, it's hard to keep up. We're constantly hiring because there's there are a lot of cases out there. But I had to educate my community on what sexual harassment cases look like. So I'll talk to other attorneys, I'll talk to my friends to help them identify these kinds of cases. That was the hurdle legally, and then there's the practical hurdle hurdle of I was the breadwinner in my family. I have two kids, you know, they're in private school, we've a mortgage, all these things. And I thought to myself, like, am I being selfish by stopping with my other job and starting a practice? What if I fail? That was that was hard.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Yeah, as it is for for all of us. So congratulations on your success. You've been and the work that you're doing every day.

Nonnegotiables For Small Business Owners

SPEAKER_02 4:35

So I do want to shift gears for a minute here because a lot of the audience watching, they're women building businesses and leading teams. So for small business owners who want to do the right thing besides the basic training, are there any other non-negotiables that that we should have in place?

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Definitely. So sexual harassment training is one thing, and it's that's great, right? That's really important, but it shouldn't be a once-a-year conversation. This should be an ongoing conversation with your team. And it's a good idea to have conversations like if this happened, that would constitute sexual harassment. If that happened, this would constitute sexual harassment. So people know, and also not being afraid to call things out. Hey, you know, it it people don't really like it when you comment on their weight. I heard you commenting on so-and-so's weight the other day. It's just not a good idea, let's not do it. Being proactive, so, so important because what I'm seeing all the time as a sexual harassment attorney is sometimes the owner of the business isn't bad, right? They don't have malintent, they're not the ones committing the harassment, but they're turning a blind eye and they're not being proactive enough.

SPEAKER_02 5:43

Yeah.

What To Do Before You Report

SPEAKER_02 5:44

So the women that might be experiencing this type of harassment, I'm sure most of them don't say anything. Um what would be so especially if it's someone that is your boss, what is the best way to approach them?

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah, I would not approach anyone until you talk to an attorney, honestly, because here's the deal: a lot of my clients go to HR first, and then they get gas lit by HR. HR tells them they have no case, HR shames them, blames them, all of these things. I don't care if the HR person down the hall is the nicest person you know. They don't work for you, right? And I always tell my clients, just like I don't work for your employer, you know, HR doesn't work for you. So you have to really understand that. And then it's really important to talk to someone who can help you understand your rights. A lot of plaintiffs' attorneys who do this kind of work don't charge for a consultation. Find someone who can give you a free consultation, walk you through, yes, you have a case. No, maybe you don't have a case. Um, here's what could become a case. Sometimes people call me and they say, these things happened. I say that's not that's not quite a case, but start keeping a journal. Start writing things down, keep screenshots of any problematic messages. That's really helpful when things come down the road. As women, we have strong intuition. Sometimes we know that what's coming, right? So I want them to be prepared.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Yeah, that's great advice because I'm sure people think the first thing to do is go to HR, but I think a lot of times people are labeled as troublemakers when they go to HR for things like that as well. So great advice there. But as um as an employer, as someone in HR responsible for those things, what advice would

How HR Should Handle Complaints

SPEAKER_02 7:21

you have for them? How do they handle that? How would they handle that if someone comes to them?

SPEAKER_01 7:25

I think if you're in HR, it's really important to listen to the whole story, to understand both sides, and to do a thorough investigation. Because what I'm seeing a lot is that women are, and you know, I do have male clients too, but again, on the whole, we're seeing a lot of women being harassed. They're being told that what happened to them doesn't matter or what happened to them wasn't bad enough. Listen to the whole story, ask for evidence, try to understand what really occurred, and then try to fix it, right? Because a lot of my clients don't want to leave their places of employment. They would rather stay. By the time they call me, it's often that they tried to work things out themselves and they weren't able to because HR wasn't meeting them even halfway.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

Yeah, yeah.

Title VII And State Law Differences

SPEAKER_02 8:05

Are there different laws for different sized companies? How does that what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 8:11

So each state is different. And so every every state has has some different laws on that, but I would say that there's the federal law in place that is very helpful for across the country, especially for states that don't have as strict of laws. So I would always look to that, whether you're on the plaintiff's or the defense side, um, first. So that's Title VII. And there's a lot of things in there that are very helpful for victims of sexual harassment. But for example, in New York, Title VII uh gets you part of the way for sexual harassment. But then again, New York state law is so much more protective. Um, California has similar laws, Massachusetts. So again, you just have to be aware of the state you're in. And different states have different rules for different size companies. So it's very case specific.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

Yeah, very all great

The Airport Billboard First Amendment Win

SPEAKER_02 8:52

information there. Now you recently took on an airport authority. Can you walk us through what happened there and what gave you the confidence to say, no, I'm not backing down from this?

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yeah, so a lot of my clients tell me they've been harassed on work trips, unfortunately. Um, that's the sad reality. And so I thought to myself, that's where I need to be, is in the airport, having a billboard so women can see there's someone here to help me. Um, so I go to the airport, you know, I'm talking to their marketing team, everything's going great. Um, and then I submit my artwork, which says when HR called it harmless flirting, we called it exhibit A. It's all pink, you know, it's great. I'm a I'm like in love with this ad. That's great. And I was told that it could be intimidating to men, and so it was rejected. I actually thought it was a joke. I was like, oh, like good one, you're gonna, you know, say that to the sexual harassment attorney. It wasn't a joke. They their change, their reasons for why they wouldn't let my ad in changed so many times. They said it was false, it was misleading, it was a sensitive subject for children, it could offend local politicians. Um, so basically what I did is I tried to work it out with them, but I realized pretty early on when they told me the First Amendment didn't apply that I would probably have to take this to court, and that's exactly what I ended up doing. I was confident because I knew the law. It's not hard law, it's literally the First Amendment. And there's already a lot of cases on both attorney um advertising and then also airport litigation or airport billboards. So the combination of those two laws made it very clear what the outcome would be in this case, but the judge did roast them pretty bad. And we won that case. And um, before I just I just saw an advertisement that was small, actually, not too dissimilar in size from the photo behind me. It was in the back of a terminal, it was by a garbage can. Oh when I right, it was like early in my job. I didn't have as much money. I'm like, I just need something. So by the time this all finished, I was like, I want the biggest ad you have, you know, and then I got to you. Why is all, right? And people, my friends text me all the time. I'm at the airport, they send me selfies with it. It's it's great. It's it's helping the market.

SPEAKER_02 10:57

And you must feel so proud of yourself for what you've done and now what you're doing to help people every day. Good for you.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Thank you. Yeah, it does feel good. The first time I saw it, I happened to be with my kids on a vacation. So that was pretty cool. It's a pretty cool moment.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

And the right thing to do isn't always the easiest thing to do. So I know there was probably some, you know, pressure going into that, but ultimately the right thing to do for sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yeah, it's interesting how at the time when I filed that suit and was fighting them, I think some people thought I was totally insane. And now everyone's like, oh, of course, this makes complete sense that that you fought the airport rate now that I won. It makes sense. But um yeah, I had to just kind of not worry about when anyone else was thinking what they would do and do what I thought was right, and I did it and it worked out. Nice.

Practical Advice And How To Reach Megan

SPEAKER_02 11:41

Now, before I let you go, I would love to ask for two more pieces of advice from you. One for the individual who might be in a situation right now and doesn't know where to turn, where to go. What advice would you give them? And then, of course, the other on the flip side for the employer who wants to protect their business and create a safe environment for both women and men to work in, what advice would you give to those two individuals?

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Sure. So for anyone who's facing sexual harassment in the workplace, I would strongly recommend that you write down things in a journal like I talked about earlier. Take screenshots, don't forward things to yourself of any evidence you have. Make sure you're you have the information that you need in case you get fired tomorrow or put on leave tomorrow. Then do call a sexual harassment attorney who knows what they're talking about. Don't call a family law attorney, don't call a criminal law attorney unless you're looking for references. I hear a lot of times from people that they call a different attorney who doesn't know the law and then they get bad advice, right? If someone called me for family law, I wouldn't be able to give them the right advice either. So we need to make sure we're going with the right attorney. And then don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Don't let anyone gaslight you, don't let anyone shame you. This is not your fault. On the flip side, what I would recommend is again, making it that sexual harassment training is not a one-day affair. We're talking about this regularly. We're empowering women to speak up. If you hear even the slightest hint of something, you're following up on it. You're asking questions. Hey, you said that this person and you were hanging out on a Friday night. I just want to, I just want to ask a few more questions about that. Make sure everything's okay. Make sure that person is safe because a lot of times women are feeling like they can't say no, um, especially if it's a supervisor.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Absolutely. Great advice. Thank you so much. Now, if someone wants to get a hold of you, how do they do that?

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Sure. So you can go to my website, mktlaw.com. You can find me on Instagram, um, you can find me on LinkedIn, and you can email me at Megan at mktlaw.com.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

Megan, thank you so much for your time today. Very important, helpful advice, and we certainly appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Thanks so much, Bridget. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

This is the Female Founder Show with host and entrepreneur Bridget Fitzpatrick, exclusively on ASBN. If you're a female founder and would like to help other female founders with your inspiring story, we would love to hear from you.