10 Best Sexual Harassment Lawyers in Costa Mesa, CA

This guide covers 10 law firms that represent employees in workplace sexual harassment cases in Costa Mesa and across Orange County, from quid pro quo demands and hostile work environment claims to retaliation and wrongful termination after a complaint. Firms were evaluated on four criteria: whether they represent employees rather than employers, the depth of their experience with sexual harassment claims under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), verifiable results and peer recognition, and whether harassment work sits inside a dedicated employment practice or is one area among many at a broader firm. Several attorneys below spent years defending employers at large firms before switching sides, which gives them a direct view of how companies build their defense.

When comparing options, three questions matter most. Does the firm work only for employees, and on a contingency basis so no fee is owed unless there is a recovery? Has the attorney taken harassment cases to verdict in Orange County Superior Court, or mainly settled them? And will the firm handle the required administrative step, filing with the California Civil Rights Department to obtain a Right-to-Sue notice, as part of the case?

Quick View: Top 3 Sexual Harassment Lawyers in Costa Mesa

Here is the list of sexual harassment lawyers in Costa Mesa:

1. California Employment Counsel, APC

• Attorney/Key Figure: Raymond E. Hane III, Founding Attorney; Nicholas A. Hane, Trial Counsel
• Headquarters: 555 Anton Boulevard, Suite 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
• Phone: (714) 462-8376
• Website: employment-counsel.com
• Practice Areas: Sexual Harassment (Quid Pro Quo, Hostile Work Environment, Same-Sex and Male-Victim Cases); Workplace Harassment; Retaliation; Workplace Discrimination; Pregnancy Discrimination; Wrongful Termination; Whistleblowers; Wage and Overtime Violations
• Firm Size: Boutique, four attorneys
• Practice Area Page: Orange County Sexual Harassment Lawyer
• Social Profiles: Facebook | LinkedIn

About the Firm: California Employment Counsel is headquartered in Costa Mesa on Anton Boulevard and represents employees only, with sexual harassment as a core part of its practice. The firm’s harassment results include a $2,791,785 verdict in Orange County Superior Court against a restaurant for the sexual harassment of a teenage employee, a $1.75 million settlement for an international company’s failure to prevent systemic harassment, and an $800,000 settlement for two women harassed at a healthcare facility. It also won a $2,944,707 pregnancy discrimination verdict against Amazon in Los Angeles Superior Court.

2. Shirazi Law Firm, P.C.

• Attorney/Key Figure: Emanuel Shirazi, Founder
• Headquarters: 9454 Wilshire Boulevard, Penthouse, Beverly Hills, CA 90212 (serves Southern California, including Orange County)
• Phone: (310) 400-5891
• Website: shirazilawfirm.com
• Practice Areas: Sexual Harassment (Quid Pro Quo, Hostile Work Environment, Same-Sex Harassment, Abuse of Power); Hostile Work Environment; Workplace Discrimination; Pregnancy Discrimination; FMLA/CFRA Leave; Reasonable Accommodation; Wrongful Termination; Whistleblower Retaliation; Wage and Hour
• Firm Size: Boutique; licensed since 2003; more than $100 million in verdicts and settlements

About the Firm: Emanuel Shirazi spent the first years of his career on the other side of these cases, as an associate at Seyfarth Shaw and then a partner at Burke, Williams & Sorensen defending employers, before founding his own employee-side firm in 2011. That background means he knows how companies and their insurers evaluate a harassment claim and where they look for weaknesses. He has been selected to Super Lawyers for employment law, is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and holds a 10.0 Avvo rating with 43 client reviews averaging 4.9.

The firm has obtained a seven-figure settlement in a sexual harassment case and has tried more than a dozen cases, and Shirazi has presented on trial tips in employment cases for the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Clients work directly with him rather than a case manager, consultations are free and confidential, and the firm offers a Spanish-language site. Cases are handled on contingency, and the firm has kept clients’ identities confidential in legal proceedings where needed.

3. Aitken Campbell Heikaus Weaver, LLP

• Attorney/Key Figure: Darren J. Campbell, Lindsey Aitken and Chris Heikaus Weaver, Name Partners
• Headquarters: 2030 Main Street, Suite 1300, Irvine, CA 92614 (additional offices in Anaheim and Riverside)
• Phone: (949) 236-4626
• Website: achwlaw.com
• Practice Areas: Sexual Harassment; Workplace Retaliation; Wrongful Termination; Workplace Discrimination; Disability Discrimination; Equal Pay Act Claims; Whistleblower; Wage and Hour; Non-Compete Agreements; FBOR and POBRA (Firefighter and Public Safety Officer Rights)
• Firm Size: Boutique, three named partners; more than 40 years of combined attorney experience

About the Firm: Aitken Campbell Heikaus Weaver is an Orange County firm that represents employees against current and former employers in both California and federal courts. Darren J. Campbell trained at three of the country’s largest employment defense firms, Jones Day, Morrison & Foerster and Morgan Lewis & Bockius, before building an employee-side practice in 2010, and he holds a 9.5 Avvo rating with an employment practice that is entirely plaintiff-side. Lindsey Aitken has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for Employment Law, Individuals, since 2024.

The firm’s sexual harassment work covers quid pro quo demands, repeated unwanted advances and hostile work environments, and its attorneys gather the evidence these cases turn on, including coworker testimony, internal emails and security footage. The team guides clients through the agency complaint and Right-to-Sue process and then pursues back pay, lost benefits, emotional distress and medical expenses in court. The firm has three offices across Orange County and the Inland Empire, including an Irvine office a short drive from Costa Mesa, and it offers free consultations with a no-fees-unless-we-win policy.

4. Engels O’Brien (formerly Engels-Janzen)

• Attorney/Key Figure: Christopher M. Engels, Attorney; Sarah K. O’Brien, Attorney
• Headquarters: 2900 Bristol Street, Suite G205, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
• Phone: (949) 269-7709
• Website: engels-obrien.com
• Practice Areas: Sexual Harassment (Hostile Work Environment, Quid Pro Quo, Retaliation); Employment and Wage and Hour Law; Wrongful Termination; Construction Labor and Employment; Business Law and Civil Litigation; Family Law; Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning
• Firm Size: Boutique, two attorneys

About the Firm: Engels O’Brien is headquartered in Costa Mesa on Bristol Street and represents employees throughout Orange County in workplace sexual harassment claims under FEHA. Christopher M. Engels was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2022, and the firm’s harassment practice covers hostile work environment and quid pro quo claims, along with the retaliation and wrongful termination claims that often follow a complaint.

The firm walks clients through the California Civil Rights Department process from start to finish, including filing, investigation or mediation, and obtaining a Right-to-Sue letter, and it helps organize the records and evidence a harassment case depends on. Clients work directly with their attorney and are never handed off to an associate or another firm. Because the firm also handles business litigation, family law and estate planning, clients whose harassment case overlaps with other legal needs can keep everything with one Costa Mesa office.

5. Park APC

• Attorney/Key Figure: Sang (James) Park, Attorney; Sook Won, Attorney
• Headquarters: 8383 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 800, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 (represents employees throughout California, including Orange County)
• Phone: (310) 627-2964
• Website: park-lawyers.com
• Practice Areas: Sexual Harassment; Hostile Work Environment; Wrongful Termination; Discrimination (Pregnancy, Age, Gender, Racial, Disability); Family and Medical Leave; Whistleblower Claims; Employee Misclassification; Wage and Hour
• Firm Size: Boutique, full-service employment law firm; Sang Park licensed in California since 2004

About the Firm: Sang (James) Park has been licensed in California since 2004 and focuses his practice entirely on employment and labor law, and Park APC describes itself as a full-service employment firm devoted to workers. The firm handles sexual harassment claims against employers from the first agency filing through litigation, including EEOC and state agency complaints, correspondence with investigators during the agency process, and the lawsuit that follows a Right-to-Sue notice.

The firm also documents and pursues the retaliation that often follows a harassment complaint, such as termination, demotion or cut hours, and seeks lost income and benefits, statutory damages and attorney fees. Consultations and case evaluations are free, with no upfront costs, and the firm’s broad employment practice means related wage, leave and discrimination claims can be brought together in one case.

6. Briana Kim, PC (Wage Recovery Queen)

• Attorney/Key Figure: Briana M. Kim, Principal and Owner
• Headquarters: 249 East Ocean Boulevard, Suite 814, Long Beach, CA 90802 (additional office: 6 Centerpointe Drive, Suite 700, La Palma, CA 90623)
• Phone: (714) 482-6301
• Website: wagerecoveryqueen.com
• Practice Areas: Sexual Harassment; Retaliation; Wrongful Termination; Pregnancy, Gender, Sexual Orientation and Disability Discrimination; FMLA and Leave of Absence; Whistleblower; Severance; Equal Pay; Wage and Hour; PAGA Claims
• Firm Size: Boutique; Briana Kim licensed in California since 2008

About the Firm: Briana M. Kim has represented employees in individual and class claims since 2008, and her practice covers workplace harassment, discrimination, retaliation and denial of protected leave. She won a $400,000 arbitration verdict in a FEHA sexual harassment case against a large multinational company, and her other results include a $1 million disability discrimination recovery and a $400,000 sex and pregnancy discrimination recovery. She was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2015 and has been a member of the California Employment Lawyers Association since 2008.

Kim’s La Palma office places her inside Orange County, and she has been a member of the Orange County Asian American Bar Association since 2013. She speaks Korean, French and Spanish, and her practice also operates as “Korean Lawyer Friend.” She holds a 9.6 Avvo rating with 21 client reviews, every one of them five stars, and offers a free consultation.

7. Aegis Law Firm, PC

• Attorney/Key Figure: Kashif Haque, Partner; Samuel A. Wong, Attorney; Jessica L. Campbell, Attorney
• Headquarters: 9811 Irvine Center Drive, Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92618 (additional office in Los Angeles)
• Phone: (949) 379-6250
• Website: aegislawfirm.com
• Practice Areas: Sexual Harassment and Abuse; Wrongful Termination; Workplace Discrimination; Medical Leave Retaliation; Whistleblower Claims; Wage and Hour and Unpaid Overtime; Employment Class Actions; Sexual Abuse Survivor Representation
• Firm Size: Boutique, four named attorneys; representing employees exclusively since 2003

About the Firm: Aegis Law Firm has represented Southern California employees exclusively since 2003. Partner Kashif Haque worked as Associate General Counsel at PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining the firm, chaired the Orange County Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section in 2015, and has been selected to Super Lawyers in most years since 2009. He holds a 10.0 Avvo rating and speaks Hindi and Urdu.

The firm represents both harassed employees and survivors of sexual abuse, and it was part of the legal teams behind global settlements of $852 million, $617.6 million and $490 million against a university. Consultations are free and confidential, and cases are taken on contingency. Much of the firm’s headline work is large class and mass settlements, so a client with a single-plaintiff harassment case should ask which attorney will handle it day to day.

8.  Nosrati Law

• Attorney/Key Figure: Omid Nosrati, Founder; Rene Maldonado, Partner
• Headquarters: 1801 Century Park East, Suite 840, Los Angeles, CA 90067 (serves Orange County, including Irvine, Santa Ana, Anaheim and Huntington Beach)
• Phone: (323) 784-0643
• Website: nosratilaw.com
• Practice Areas: Sexual Harassment (Quid Pro Quo, Hostile Work Environment); Retaliation for Reporting Harassment; Wrongful Termination; Workplace Discrimination; Whistleblower Protection; Wage and Hour Disputes and Class Actions; FMLA Violations
• Firm Size: Boutique, five attorneys; founded in 2003; more than 40 years of combined experience

About the Firm: Omid Nosrati founded his firm in 2003 to do one thing: represent employees in disputes with their employers. The practice is exclusively employment law and exclusively employee-side, and Nosrati has been recognized by Super Lawyers and is a member of the California Employment Lawyers Association. The firm reports sexual harassment recoveries of $650,000 and $500,000, alongside larger results in whistleblower retaliation and wage and hour class actions.

Harassment cases rarely stand alone, and this team handles the full chain: the harassment itself, the retaliation that often follows a complaint, and a wrongful termination claim when the employee is pushed out. The firm advises clients to document incidents and preserve messages early, and to get legal advice before signing any severance agreement that could waive their claims. Consultations are free, can be held virtually, and are available in English, Spanish and Farsi, and cases are taken on a no-recovery, no-fee basis.

9. Greenberg Gross LLP

• Attorney/Key Figure: Alan A. Greenberg, CEO and Founding Partner; Wayne R. Gross, Founding Partner; Brian L. Williams, Managing Partner
• Headquarters: 650 Town Center Drive, Suite 1700, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 (Orange County office; 14 additional offices nationwide, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento)
• Phone: (949) 383-2800
• Website: ggtriallaw.com
• Practice Areas: Employment Law (Harassment, Hostile Work Environment, Discrimination, Retaliation, Whistleblower, Wrongful Termination, Equal Pay); Sexual Assault and Abuse Survivors; Elder Abuse; Personal Injury
• Firm Size: Large, multi-office trial firm

About the Firm: Greenberg Gross was founded by trial lawyers Alan Greenberg and Wayne Gross and has grown into a national trial firm with 15 offices, including one in Costa Mesa. Its employment practice covers harassment, hostile work environment, discrimination and retaliation claims, and it has a large practice representing survivors of sexual assault and abuse, including a $6.4 million settlement with a school district over abuse by an elementary school teacher. In employment cases the firm has won a $6.1 million judgment for a school district employee on a whistleblower retaliation claim.

For a harassment case that involves physical assault or institutional cover-up, the firm’s survivor-advocacy experience and trial resources are a strong match. The trade-off is scale: employment is one of several practice lines at a large national firm, and it has no dedicated sexual harassment page, so clients should confirm which Costa Mesa attorneys will run their case.

10. Meissner Law Firm

• Attorney/Key Figure: Werner R. “Vern” Meissner, Founder
• Headquarters: 4611 Teller Avenue, Suite 120, Newport Beach, CA 92660 (additional office in San Pedro)
• Phone: (310) 833-2335
• Website: meissnerlawfirm.com
• Practice Areas: Employment Law (Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, Wrongful Termination); Sexual Assault and Clergy Abuse; Personal Injury; Medical Malpractice; Vehicle Accidents; Civil Litigation
• Firm Size: Small firm, three attorneys; founded in 1985

About the Firm: Werner Meissner has been licensed in California since 1980 and has run his plaintiffs’ firm since 1985, with Eric R. Meissner and Michael A. Meissner now practicing alongside him. He has been selected to Super Lawyers for many years and is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and the firm reports a $3.1 million sexual abuse recovery among its results. He holds a 10.0 Avvo rating with 20 client reviews, all five stars.

The firm’s Newport Beach office is a few minutes from Costa Mesa, and its attorneys handle cases from pre-litigation through trial, speak directly with clients rather than through a case manager, and offer Spanish-language support. Consultations are free and fees are contingent. Personal injury makes up the largest share of the practice, so sexual harassment is one area among many rather than a specialty.

Costa Mesa, CA Sexual Harassment Lawyers Resources

• California Civil Rights Department Complaint Process: How to file a workplace harassment complaint with CRD, the three-year filing deadline for employment cases, and how to request an immediate Right-to-Sue notice. Phone: 800-884-1684.
• EEOC Los Angeles District Office, Filing Deadlines: The federal agency covering Orange County, with the 300-day deadline for filing a sex harassment charge against an employer with 15 or more employees.
• Orange County Superior Court, Central Justice Center: The courthouse at 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, where unlimited civil cases, including FEHA harassment lawsuits from Costa Mesa, are heard. Includes hours and Self-Help Center information.
• CRD Sexual Harassment Prevention Training: The state’s training requirement for employers with five or more employees and its free online course, offered in six languages.
• CACI 2521A, Hostile Work Environment Harassment: California’s official jury instruction listing what an employee must prove in a hostile work environment case, and when an employer is liable for a supervisor’s or coworker’s conduct.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as sexual harassment under California law?

California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act recognizes two main forms. Quid pro quo harassment is when a supervisor conditions a job benefit, such as a raise, promotion or keeping your job, on sexual favors. Hostile work environment harassment is unwelcome sexual or sex-based conduct, such as propositions, explicit images, sexual comments or touching, that is severe or pervasive enough to make the workplace hostile or abusive. FEHA’s harassment protections reach employers of any size, cover applicants, unpaid interns, volunteers and contractors as well as employees, and allow claims against the individual harasser personally.

How long do I have to file a sexual harassment claim in California?

Before you can sue under FEHA, you must file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, and for employment cases the deadline is three years from the last act of harassment. You can ask CRD for an immediate Right-to-Sue notice instead of waiting for an investigation, and the lawsuit must then be filed within one year of that notice. A federal claim under Title VII runs on a shorter clock: 300 days to file a charge with the EEOC. Firms such as California Employment Counsel, APC and Park APC handle the agency filing as part of the case.

Is my employer responsible if a supervisor or coworker harassed me?

It depends on who did it. Under California law, an employer is strictly liable for harassment by a supervisor acting in a supervisory capacity, meaning the company is responsible even if it did not know. For harassment by a coworker, client or customer, the employer is liable if it knew or should have known and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action. That is why documenting complaints to HR in writing matters, a point that firms including California Employment Counsel, APC and Shirazi Law Firm emphasize to new clients.

Where are sexual harassment lawsuits from Costa Mesa filed?

State-law FEHA cases from Costa Mesa are usually filed in Orange County Superior Court, where unlimited civil cases are heard at the Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana. Cases that include federal claims can be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Some employees are bound by arbitration agreements, which move the case to a private arbitrator; Briana Kim’s $400,000 sexual harassment win, for example, came through arbitration.

Can a sexual harassment settlement in California be kept confidential?

Only in limited ways. Under California Code of Civil Procedure section 1001, as expanded by the Silenced No More Act (SB 331) for agreements on or after January 1, 2022, a settlement of a sexual harassment claim filed in court or with an agency cannot prevent disclosure of the factual information about the claim. The amount of the settlement can still be kept confidential, and the employee can ask for a provision that protects their own identity. Employees should have a lawyer review any settlement or severance agreement before signing.

How much does a sexual harassment lawyer cost in Costa Mesa?

Most employee-side harassment lawyers in Orange County work on contingency, meaning no attorney fee is owed unless there is a recovery, and the fee is a percentage of the settlement or verdict. Firms on this list including Aitken Campbell Heikaus Weaver, California Employment Counsel, APC and Aegis Law Firm advertise no fees unless they win, and FEHA allows a court to order the employer to pay the employee’s attorney fees when the employee prevails. Consultations are typically free.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Sexual harassment claims in California are subject to strict legal deadlines, which may vary depending on the nature of the claim and the circumstances of the case. Attorney availability, experience, and office locations may change over time. Verify all attorney credentials, licensing status, and disciplinary records directly with the State Bar of California before hiring legal counsel.