I just came from a different thread on HN, where highly compensated software developers were afraid to even point out to their managers that what they were suggesting was a bad idea for the company. People literally fearing for their jobs, because they want to do their jobs well and not just blindly follow orders that will be costly to their employer.

So you can imagine how many multiples of that it is when you're trying to rock the boat on harassment.

> Here's a list of potential negative outcomes of lawyering up

Aren't most of these potential negative outcomes of suing, not lawyering up?

Having a conversation with a lawyer who specializes in employment law to get a temperature-check on your specific situation (does it qualify as harassment, what are your options, what are likely outcomes of exercising these options given precedent case law, etc) will not result in "having your weird texts, emails, personal life and sexual history being dragged out in a public court case".

Even if you do sue, most lawsuits (especially discrimination ones) are settled out of court, without lascivious details being made public.

> Aren't most of these potential negative outcomes of suing, not lawyering up?

You're kind-of right, but suing only has teeth if you're prepared to go to court and not bluffing. Engaging a lawyer without suing is just going to cost you money. All of the things I said still suck if you're going through depositions, even if everything isn't being made public. Imagine having to sit in a room full of lawyers and explain why you replied 'haha' to an inappropriate text instead of "I'm forwarding this to HR right now."

I feel sad that there's are so many reasons that stop you to d the RIGHT THING.

What is the better way then, beside leaving the company despite doing your job very well?

My advice, save some money, get your resume ready and sue. If they fire you, then sue for retaliation as well.

Suing your employer is often viewed in an extremely bad light by future employers. I'd even go so far as to call it "career suicide."

You'd have to be at a pretty high level for a future employer to do a public records search on you (not to be confused with a background check), thus the compensation you would receive for a retaliatory firing would likely be in the millions (or tens of millions) of dollars as it is often based on lost income and has a punitive component. You'd likely never have to work again.

Many employers of mine have done background checks on me prior to extending an offer. And there's this hip things the kiddos are using called "Duck Duck Go".

Well this individual did those first two things. I think damage has been done to the company already even if litigation wasn't involved. Sadly a lot of companies only get the message when they need pay damages. I get the impression that money doesn't seem to much of a concern for this company however.

You missed a step, which is "make sure you have a competing offer in hand".