Hey there, I was laid off after enduring almost a year of advances from the boss, the company I worked for was small and there was no HR dept. and no supervisor. I told a few people but they were sleeping with or in a relationship with other people in the company. I feel like I was fired because I was the only one not in a sexual tie in the company. I had far greater experience and a more professional mannerism than my co-workers. The woman who I confided in that the boss had touched me several times and it made me very uncomfortable turned and fired me (she was made a partner less than 7 days ago). If a company has less than 15 employess do these laws not apply? I'm confused after reading:

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments.

Does that mean I can't file a lawsuit against the company? There is an associate of the company who also began playing with my foot in a weird way (I was barefoot at a company boat party and had my back to him). It gave me chills and I screamed, a few days later he took me outside the office for a meeting with my boss, just the three of us, and he asked me why god gave me such small feet. I looked at him confused, he said " well being that you are so top heavy [staring and pointing at my breasts] I am surprised you don't topple over" . The two of them stood there laughing at me, and this meeting was supposed to be about me getting a promotion due to hard work I had put in.
The boss constantly grabbed my butt and had put me in several situations where I was alone with him ( closed bedroom door at company party, in a car ride with him, took me out to lunch for no reason) I told many people that I didn't trust him, didn't like it when he was around and that he touched me inappropriately and was excessively flattering me in a way that gave me the creeps.
And now I'm out of work.
Do I have a strong enough case to pursue this? I am truly fearful of the people in this company because they all are in relationships with someone else in the company and offered no support.

As you learned, the federal anti-discrimination laws do not apply to smaller employers. However, NC does not appear to specify a minimum number of employees. Look on page 99 of the following link for additional information: http://www.dol.state.nc.us/laborlaws01.pdf

if the company has several contracted workers, which are not on the taxable payroll but do receive monthly paychecks for the work they have done, can they be considered employees? I can think of 7 people who were on the payroll and about 17 more who were contracted to do work (paid a daily rate) or received comission checks for products sold. If not, then should I go after the individuals instead of the company? I'm waiting to talk with a lawyer, I was referred to a contigency based lawyer for this type of case. Thanks for the link.

The others would not be considered as employees (unless the employer misclassified them, but that is a whole other story). Let us know what your employer says.

I have now heard through the grapevine, a contracted worker has contacted me, that the company has sent emails out stating that I was fired because I created a hostile environment and had a volatile temper! the person who told me of course thought it was a joke and was laughing when he read it, I'm about as docile as one can be. The company actually relied on me to pacify upset customers and prevent refunds, I also have an email from one of the partners who told the president of the company how professional I was in handling a situation (from less than 4 weeks ago). Can a company get away with making up stuff about someone they terminated? Is that a separate lawsuit or should I tie it in to the harassment one? Thanks for your help, I have so many questions because I have to wait until Monday to see my lawyer. I appreciate you taking the time to read all the posts here.

It may be seen as retaliation for the original harassment complaint.