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Archive for the ‘Sexual Harassment’ Category

An Orlando woman has teamed up with high-powered attorney Gloria Allred to sue her former employer for gender discrimination and retaliation, after she said she was sexually harassed by managers who commented on her breasts.

Amy-Erin Blakely filed the lawsuit in an Orange County, Florida court on Wednesday and said the harassment at The Devereux Foundation went on for about five years. Blakely managed 900 employees at the nonprofit behavioral health organization that also provides foster and adoptive assistance. Blakely says she worked for the organization in Orlando until she was fired last year after she accused managers of sexual harassment.

“It was very humiliating to know that senior members of our management team would focus on my breasts as opposed to my performance on the job,” said Blakely at a Los Angeles press conference Wednesday.

“She also alleges that someone in management talked about how large her breasts were and that she needed to ‘hide them,’” Allred told the station.

Blakely said she always dressed professionally, was an exemplary worker and had never before been reprimanded. In fact, she said she was promoted and given raises eight times in 13 years. The 43-year-old had risen to the position of Assistant Executive Director, but claims she couldn’t advance any further because her managers said she was “too sensual.”

As many readers of my blog are well aware, sexual harassment in the workplace is prohibited by Florida and Federal law. In addition, if you complain to your employer about sexual harassment in your workplace and are retaliated against or fired, that is simillarly a violation of Federal and Florida law.

If you believe you have been the victim of sexual harassment or retaliation in the workplace, feel free to contact the Behren Law Firm or another attorney experienced in employment law matters.

More and more in the news today, there is frequent coverage of sexual harassment lawsuits. In most cases, these involve an employee and one of their employer’s employees. However, recent cases indicate that employers may also be responsible for sexual harassment of third parties and/or customers if they are aware of the harassment but fail to remedy or address it.

On September 27, 2010, the EEOC filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Beacon Hill Investments Corp., which does business as Synergy Home Care, on behalf of a group of female employees assigned to care for one of the employer’s home bound male clients. The female employees’ duties included sleeping at the client’s home overnight. The client allegedly fondled the female employees, made suggestive comments to them, and accosted them in their sleep. The employees allegedly complained to several managers and requested to be transferred. The employer is accused of ignoring their complaints and failing to take any remedial action. The female workers then quit, allegedly because of the employer’s inaction.

The EEOC claims that, by failing to take prompt remedial action in response to the female employees’ complaints, Synergy Home Care subjected them to a sexually hostile work environment and constructively discharged them. The EEOC seeks permanent injunctions against Synergy Home Care to prevent future discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and an order that Synergy Home Care institute policies and programs to provide equal employment opportunities for women which eradicate the effect of the alleged discrimination. The EEOC also seeks damages for the female employees, including: backpay; frontpay; out-of-pocket losses, such as job search expenses; pain and suffering; loss of enjoyment of life; and punitive damages.

Many employers and managers may not realize that, as the above-mentioned lawsuit urges, an employer may be “responsible for the acts of non-employees, with respect to sexual harassment of employees in the workplace.” 29 C.F.R. § 1604.11(e). For an employer to be liable for non-employee harassment, the employee must show that: (i) he or she was subjected to unlawful harassment on the basis of his or her sex; (ii) the harassment was unwelcome; (iii) the harassment was severe or pervasive enough to affect a term, condition, or privilege of his or her employment, and (iv) the employer knew or reasonably should have known about the harassment by the third-party and failed to take prompt remedial action.

So in the event you, as an employee, are sexually harassed by your employer or third parties such as their customers, and the employer has knowledge of what is taking place, you may want to file a complaint with the EEOC or contact and experienced employment lawyer to address these issues.

I have blogged many times about sexual harassment in the workplace. These laws are applicable whether you are being harassed by a member of the same sex or the opposite sex. Just ask famed tiger
tamers, Siegfried & Roy.

Siegfried and Roy, the tiger-wrangling sensation, definitely tops the wish list of most travelers to Las Vegas! Now the reputation of the most iconic duo, in the entertainment industry, has been threatened after shocking accusations of sexual harassment have been filed against them.

Siegfried and Roy are being sued by their former assistant, Oliver Preiss. Oliver submitted a complaint to the court; which stated that he was fired after years of rejecting sexual advances coming from Roy Horn. The complaint was filed in Nevada’s Clark County Court, on September 17th.

ABC News quoted the lawsuit as saying, “Roy Horn and his stage partner, Siegfried Fischbacher, made repeated “requests for sex.” Roy Horn “made sexual advances towards all male assistants.” Ray also “forced his assistants to join him in watching pornographic videos at night.” Roy “groped” Oliver Preiss, “inside and outside of Priess’ clothing.”

If you have been the victime of sexual harassment in the workplace, either by a member of the same sex or opposite sex, speak to your Human Resources and if not addressed, file a complaint with the EEOC or go to an employment law attorney to discuss your legal rights.

In the past on this blog, I have not only addressed sexual harassment in the workplace, but have also discussed housing discrimination. Well this post, addresses a little of both issues.

A federal jury in Detroit last week returned a $115,000 verdict against an Ypsilanti, Mich., man for sexually harassing female tenants in his capacity as a property manager, the Justice Department announced last week. The jury also found the property owner and his company liable for the illegal harassment.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, alleged that Glenn Johnson subjected female tenants to discrimination on the basis of sex, including severe, pervasive and unwelcome sexual harassment, in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. The complaint also alleged that Ronnie Peterson and First Pitch Properties LLC, the owners of the properties, are liable for Johnson’s discriminatory conduct.

Over the course of a six day trial, the United States presented evidence that Glenn Johnson subjected six women to severe and pervasive sexual harassment, ranging from unwelcome sexual comments and sexual advances, to requiring sexual favors in exchange for their tenancy. One woman testified that Johnson refused to give her keys to her apartment until she agreed to have sex with him. Another woman testified that she had sex with Johnson at least 20 times because he threatened that the owner would evict her if she did not.

The United States also presented evidence that Washtenaw County Commissioner Ronnie Peterson, who owned the properties, knew that Johnson was sexually harassing tenants but did nothing to stop it. One woman testified that she complained in person to Peterson about Johnson’s conduct yet Johnson continued to handle properties for Peterson for nearly two more years.

“Today’s verdict sends a message to landlords and rental agents that they cannot abuse their positions and sexually harass tenants,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade. “Women should be safe from sexual harassment in their own homes.”

If you believe you have been the victim of sexual harassment or housing discrimination, speak to an attorney who is experienced with these areas of law.

Well after some time off and getting ready for a jury trial that was postponed by the judge as we were getting ready to select a jury, it is now back to the coal mine and blogging for you readers about developments in employment law.

As you may know, I have blogged in the past about pregnancy discrimination against employees. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII, which covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. Title VII also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations, as well as to the federal government. Women who are pregnant or affected by pregnancy-related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar abilities or limitations. In addition, most states have comparable state discrimination statutes that apply to pregnancy discrimination.

Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), an employer cannot refuse to hire a pregnant woman because of her pregnancy, because of a pregnancy-related condition, or because of the prejudices of co-workers, clients, or customers. In addition, if an employee is temporarily unable to perform her job because of her pregnancy, the employer must treat her the same as any other temporarily disabled employee. For example, if the employer allows temporarily disabled employees to modify tasks, perform alternative assignments, or take disability leave or leave without pay, the employer also must allow an employee who is temporarily disabled because of pregnancy to do the same. Pregnant employees must be permitted to work as long as they are able to perform their jobs. If an employee has been absent from work as a result of a pregnancy-related condition and recovers, her employer may not require her to remain on leave until the baby’s birth. An employer also may not have a rule that prohibits an employee from returning to work for a predetermined length of time after childbirth.

Well apparently the Detroit Police Department did not care to follow this law.

Six female police officers in Detroit settled their pregnancy discrimination lawsuit for over $200,000. As an additional term of the settlement, no employee or applicant will be asked if she is pregnant or anticipates being pregnant. Additionally the department cannot assign an officer to desk duty because she is pregnant unless she requests it or force her to go on unpaid leave.

The police officers alleged they were forced to go on sick leave, even if they could perform other duties. Five of the female officers said they were stuck at home without pay after exhausting sick leave.

So if you believe you have been the subject of pregnancy discrimination, speak to an experienced employment law attorney to advise you of your rights.

So this posting is a little off topic, but interesting nonetheless. It is a new lawsuit that alleges sexual harassment, but is not in a employee context.

A 14 year-old Chicago boy has accused Southwest Airlines of ignoring his complaints about a seatmate’s sexual harassment during a 2008 flight to Orlando. An older woman sitting next to the boy allegedly repeatedly offered the boy drugs and made inappropriate sexual advances toward him. The boy allegedly asked flight attendants to switch seats because of the cougar attack, but according to a lawsuit, they ignored him. The boy’s father is suing for $50,000 in damages.

Clearly since he was not an employee of Southwest, the employment discrimination laws would not apply so even through this is being called sexual harassment, the claims might be more in the nature of negligence or battery. In addition, I wonder if the flight took place in 2008, why they are only getting around to bringing a lawsuit two years later? Just remember all my readers out there, if you have a claim, don’t wait to bring it. Your claim appears to lack merit when you wait for years to bring it. In addition you face the problem of witnesses disappearing and memories getting vaguer.

So if you have claims that you believe are sexual harassment, but maybe not in the employer/employee context, don’t fret, there may be other legal claims you can bring for your claim.

On a final note, I wonder whether the 14 year olds friends were jealous?

As I have blogged about in the past, many employees come to me to complain about what bad bosses they have or what jerks their bosses are and frankly, an employer being a jerk is not legally actionable under any state or federal law that I am aware of. But, now employees of the world, you may finally have your ability to take action, even if not in court, against your nasty boss. The ebosswatch.com’s motto is “nobody should have to work with a jerk.”

The site says that eBossWatch was launched in June 2007 to help people avoid hostile work environments and workplace bullying. Because it is extremely difficult during the job interview process to discover the true atmosphere at a potential employer and the true nature of a potential manager, eBossWatch is a critical job search resource for people who are considering a career change.

BossWatch enables you to anonymously rate your boss using a respectable and focused evaluation form so that job seekers can search for bosses at potential workplaces and can receive reports detailing the ratings that each boss has received.

You can tell the world on the internet if your employer is great or horrible. It also has a section called the National Sexual Harassment database where you can post complaints of sexual harassment by an employer or boss so that someone who is considering employment with that boss can look up that information. Its akin to the national sexual predator databases out there.

EbossWatch says that “The eBossWatch National Sexual Harassment Registry was inspired by the FBI’s National Sex Offender Registry, which tracks and provides information about registered sex offenders.

The mission of our Sexual Harassment Registry is to help people avoid sexual harassers and to help put an end to sexual harassment by sending a strong message to those intending to harass their employees or coworkers that they will be publicly held accountable and will suffer serious consequences for their abusive actions.”

The Sexual Harassment Registry keeps track of not only those complaints that have gone to trial, but those that complaints were filed on and even those where no actions were taken by employee since they realize that only a small percentage of these complaints go to trial.

So those of you who have great bosses, tell the world. Those of you who have horrible bosses tell the world. And most importantly, if you have been the subject of sexual harassment, tell the world.

The name of the site is www.ebosswatch.com. Check it out.

This may seem like an obvious point, but you all need to be aware that the federal and state sexual harassment laws apply to minors in the workplace just as much as they apply to adults. So, if your sixteen year old working at a fast food location is being sexually harassed, the child or their parent needs to make a report with Human Resources or go to the EEOC. Parents whose children are in the workplace also need to let their kids know that this kind of conduct does not need to be tolerated.

A perfect example is the latest settlement that Starbucks reached in a case out in California. Starbucks has recently agreed to settle a harassment lawsuit, in which a former barista alleged she was pressed with incessant sexual demands from her manager at only 16 years of age. Kati Moore was only 16-years-old when employed as a barista at a California-based Starbucks coffee shop. Moore, contended Tim Horton, her 24-year-old supervisor, would send her inappropriate text messages on a daily basis. For instance, one of hundreds of unruly messages read, “I’d like to f— tomorrow.” Moore accused Starbucks of failing to protect her from the daily workplace harassment. She also asserted her other Starbucks supervisors were conscious of the illicit activity, yet carelessly kept quiet about the matter.

Moore’s case was even featured in a “20/20” investigation concerning teenage victims of workplace sexual harassment. Dr. Susan Strauss, a sexual harassment expert interviewed during the report, noted that such workplace issues are not unusual. The problems can be especially common in fast food restaurants where many teens become employed for the first time. “They’re vulnerable, they’re young, they’re new to the workforce,” Strauss said. According to a study conducted in Maine, one in three high school students reported experiencing unwarranted sexual advances in the workplace.

If your teen expresses concerns to you about whats going on in his/her workplace speak to an employment law attorney to make sure they are not taken advantage of.