In addition to what an employer can/should do to respond to harassment in the workplace, it is also important to understand the types of damages ("remedies" or "relief") that can be awarded in litigation against an employer where illegal harassment is proven. As a starting place, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and most state agencies are authorized to seek broad relief on behalf of aggrieved employees. The relief may include, for example, compensation for lost wages and benefits, front pay, compensatory damages, hiring, reinstatement or promotion, fines, or mandatory changes in an employer's policies or practices. And this is just a partial list. If a plaintiff proves that an employer retaliated against an employee for reporting harassment or participating in harassment investigations, the scope of the possible remedies is even broader.

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal antidiscrimination law that applies to most private employers, the damages awards were generally limited to back pay and injunctive relief (such as an order requiring an employer to cease and desist from continuing an unlawful practice). Compensatory damages and punitive damages generally were not available. With the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (CRA) came an expansion of remedies that was designed to meet the twin goals of the law: to deter discrimination and harassment and to compensate the victim. Under Title VII, as amended by the CRA, the remedies available (as of January 2006) may include: