Illinois Sexual Harassment Attorney Blog

Terminix International and Service Master are being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for sexual harassment. In addition to the claims of sexual harassment the EEOC is also alleging the companies subjected their employees to a hostile work environment. In the lawsuit it is alleged that Terminix and ServiceMaster permitted a class of female employees to be repeatedly sexually harassed by a supervisor. The sexual harassment included repeated sexual comments by a supervisor directed at a class of female employees. Lawsuits like this tend to settle for big amounts because of the number of people involved.

According to published accounts a supervisor suggested to the female employees that they come to work not wearing a top. The same supervisor told the women to wear nothing but Vaseline. When you make comments like that, it is hard to plan a good defense. This supervisor also made repeated comments to female employees telling them that they could be strippers and could give him lap dances.

“Employers who subject individuals to harassment based on sex are violating federal law,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC.

Mike Enyart & Sons, a construction company is sued for racial discrimination and illegally firing an employee who complained about the conduct. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed the lawsuit on behalf of Mareo Allen an African-American. According to accounts that were published, Allen was subjected to a hostile work environment based on his race, when he worked for the company on a sewer line installation project. While working on that project co-workers and a foreman repeatedly used racially offensive slurs and epithets to Allen and other black persons, including n----r, black boy and colored boy.

The company failed to stop the discrimination and prevent the hostile work environment. In a crazy statement the company told Allen he could only stay employed if he agreed not to pursue his discrimination claims. When Allen refused to withdraw the discrimination claims, the company terminated him in retaliation for his opposition to the racial harassment.

“It is appalling that the company not only condoned the vile and offensive racial epithets made to Mr. Allen, but actually warned him that he had to drop his complaints about the racial harassment in order to keep his job,” said EEOC Attorney Debra Lawrence

Lodging Enterprises LLC of Arizona, which does business as Oak Tree Inn in Yuma, will pay $75,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). According to the lawuist Oak Tree Inn threatened employees with reprisals of reducing their hours or otherwise forced them to engage in a particular religious prayer ceremony in spite of their personal different religious views. The defendant, through its general manager, Carlos Paredes, derided certain religious beliefs of some of the employees, the EEOC said. He also attempted to impose his personal religious beliefs on employees. The unlawful discrimination created a hostile work environment and denied employees reasonable accommodation for their religious beliefs.

The lawsuit involved twelve employees and they will all share in the settlement amount. Theresa Hurtado was one of the employees and she was one of the driving forces behind filing the discrimination complaint with the EEOC. There seems to be more employers engaging in crazy conduct in the workplace. I believe some of this may have to do with the bad economy and a feeling that employees will put up with any behavior to keep their jobs. Good for these twelve employees.

EEOC Regional Attorney Mary Jo O’Neill said, “Employees have a right to their own religious beliefs or no religious beliefs. Employees should never be subjected unwillingly to a supervisor’s religious views."

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed a lawsuit against the Four Points by Sheraton in Phoenix, of discriminating against an employee by subjecting him to a hostile work environment because of his Iraqi national origin. According to details of the lawsuit the man was subjected to continued and escalating workplace harassment and he was forced to resign as a result of the discriminatory conduct.

The employee Basil Massih was subjected to harassment which included mimicking Massih’s accent, ethnic slurs such as “camel jockey,” mocking Arab ululations, and taunting and jeering at Massih relating to news stories about Iraq and the capture of terrorists. The lawsuit alleges that Massih complained to a number of managers about the national origin harassment, but that management failed to take corrective action, and that the continued harassment resulted in intolerable working conditions for Massih.

“Employers have an affirmative duty to protect employees from discrimination and harass­ment,” said Mary Jo O’Neill EEOC attorney.“

Biewer sawmill will pay $55,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit that took place as a result of inappropriate behavior at its Wisconsin sawmill. According to the lawsuit Biewer failed to prevent a sexually hostile work environment and sexual harassment. The sexual harassment occured to two female employees who will split the money. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC")on behalf of the two women.

The lawsuit alleged a Biewer supervisor repeatedly exposed himself to female employees over several years. The company didn't fire the supervisor until prosecutors charged him with lewd and lascivious behavior. It is really crazy that the company would allow a man like this to continue working even after he behaved in this fashion. It took criminal charges to finally make the company see the light. It was good the female employees hung in there and fought for their rights.

My website lasorsalaw.com generates many inquires about sexual harassment cases in Illinois and throughout the country. Even though I have videos on the website to walk people through the steps of filing a lawsuit or complaint regarding sexual harassment, people still have many of the same questions. I hope to answer a few here with this general post. The first decision a person must make is whether to file a complaint of sexual harassment with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). With the IDHR, a person has 180 days from the date of the last sexual harassment to file a complaint, with the EEOC the person has 300 days to file a complaint of sexual harassment.

Another factor to consider is whether or not you wish to file a lawsuit in state court, federal court or have an administrative law judge at the Illinois Human Rights Commission ("IHRC") decide your case. Having the IHRC decide the case is the least expensive but may take the longest. Federal court is the quickest route to take but it is also the most difficult, expensive and employment law on the federal level favors employers in my opinion. It is important to discuss all options with attorney Peter LaSorsa and see which one works best for your situation. Sometimes the amount of time since the last date of sexual harassment will dictate which way to proceed. For example if you wait 200 days to contact my office, we will have no choice but to file with the EEOC.

Continue reading "Filing A Sexual Harassment Complaint With The Illinois Department of Human Rights" »

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed a sexual harassment lawsuit on behalf of Amanda Heschmeyer against Cactus Grill Inc. According to the lawsuit an assistant manager at the restaurant asked 18-year-old Heschmeyer for sex, touched her and made unwelcome sexual advances toward her. Those types of actions create a hostile work environment and because of that type of environment, Heschmeyer was forced to quit her job which is known as constructive discharge.

The assistant manager no longer works for Cactus Grill Inc. and that will be bad news for the Cactus. The reason it is bad news, is because since he no longer works for the company, he is in a position to tell the truth and not worry about losing his job, since he already lost it. Many times companies end up in a bad position because the person who did the sexual harassment gets terminated and becomes a good witness for the complainant.

“Sexual harassment in the workplace is always wrong, but harassment of teenage workers, who are often in their first ‘real’ job, is even more egregious,” said James Neely, EEOC district director.

Colleen Vesper filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Gary Moore and the Illinois Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Foundation. According to the lawsuit Moore and the Foundation made Vesper work in a hostile work environment after she refused Moore's sexual and romantic advances. Vesper had been the business manager of Fairmount Park until she lost her job last year. She claims the underlying sexual harassment issue led to the loss of her employment.

Prior to filing a lawsuit in either federal or state court, a person must first file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). It is nice to see people stand up and take a position and not let their bosses push them around. We wish Colleen Vesper the best.

The administrative assistance to former Mayor Gary Becker’s will receive $50,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit she filed. According to the discrimination complaint she worked in a hostile work environment because of the sexual harassing nature of the comments and acts of the Mayor. She also claimed retaliation because she was terminated for filing a complaint about the sexual harassment.

The settlement amount includes $20,000 for compensatory damages, $5,000 for past wages and $25,000 for attorney fees. In cases like this, where one man has so much power, lawyers will often advice the party to settle. If this case were to go to trial and if the facts alleged were proven, the damages would easily be in the six figure range.

Deputy Robert Lyznick was awarded $350,000 in his sexual harassment lawsuit after complaining that his male supervisor sexually harassed him for several months. In the lawsuit Lyznick sued the county and former Sgt. Charles Dery who was the supervisor of Lyznick. In a strange twist to the story, Dery countersued Lyznick and two others but he did not prevail in his lawsuit. Some of the allegations in the lawsuit include Dery asking Lyznick if he had ever engaged in oral sex with a man and told him to bend over for a rectal examination. This type of behavior would create a hostile work environment.

The final straw for Lyznick happened when he was getting dressed in the locker room and Dery slipped a finger into his underwear and touched the deputy's rear end. There were other officers who came forward and also complained about Dery and the Judge believed the testimony of them in this case. The sexual harassment lawsuit started in a wierd manner as it was originally a jury trial but both sides were having trouble picking a jury and agreed to have a bench trial and let the Judge decide the issue.

"He wanted to sue the county for money and get rid of Dery," The County's Attorney said.

Dona Ana County settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with five women for $150,000. The women sued the county under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 claiming they were subjected to a hostile work environment by the county. All of the women worked as custodians and had male supervisors who would allegedly make derogatory and sexual comments to the women. The women complained about the conduct of their supervisors and the discrimination continued.

The women first filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and then the EEOC referred to case to the United States Justice Department for investigation. You can see how much money agencies and companies have to pay because of the behavior of their workers when they act in such a foolish fashion. Until companies and organizations properly train their employees on what is acceptable behavior these types of cases will continue.

"It is critical that employers understand what constitutes sexual harassment, and that they take allegations of harassment seriously," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

Sarah Klein, an Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") agent filed a sexual harassment lawsuit and is seeking $6 million. She claims her manager Richard Cook created a hostile work environment by making sexual advances toward her. She also alleges her manager suggested they share a hotel room at conferences, flirted with her and made sexual comments.

In her lawsuit she claims that she complained about Cook's behavior and the IRS answer was to transfer her. Instead of accepting the transfer she stayed put and was assigned to another manager. There was never any discipline to Cook and Klein believed she was not having her complaints taken seriously. This case shows that management would rather just shuffle the deck and hope things go away, rather than address the problem head on.

It is nice to see someone stand up for themselves and not let management push them around. Lets see if a jury things the IRS handled the situation properly.

The Boeing Company will pay $380,000 to settle two lawsuits involving gender discrimination and retaliation. The lawsuits were filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of two female engineers. In the first lawsuit Antonia Castron complained of gender discrimination based on sexist remarks which resulted in a hostile work environment. After she complained to management, she was moved to a new location and two months later she found herself without a job. The lawsuit filed by the EEOC alleges Boeing engaged in retaliation for terminating Castron.

In the second case Renee Wrede twice complained of gender discrimination and remarkably both times Boeing’s own investigators substantiated her complaints. This is the remarkable part of this case. Even though Boeing was able to agree that Wrede was suffering from gender discrimination, Boeing allowed her harassers to influence her layoff evaluations and reduce her scores. It should be no suprise that Wrede was also layed off. Even though Boeing tried to manipute evidence, the EEOC’s investigation proved Boeing manipulated evaluation scores in order to justify the terminations of Wrede and Castron. It is hard to believe corporations still behave like this.

“Covert attempts to mask discriminatory and retaliatory motives, such as Boeing employed, will fool no one.” said EEOC acting attorney Rayford Irvin.

In Illinois if a person believes they have been subjected to sexual harassment then can file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") or the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR"). The following case illustrates one reason why I prefer to file a case with the IDHR as opposed to the EEOC. A federal judge ordered the EEOC to pay $4.56 million in attorneys' fees and expenses to a CRST after dismissing the EEOCs sexual harassment lawsuit. The EEOC filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against CRST on behalf of 270 female drivers. The drivers claim that CRST created a hostile work environment.

The problem for the EEOC was that a Judge ruled against the EEOC and in favor of CRST in a motion for summary judgment thereby dismissing the sexual harassment lawsuit. In federal court, a Judge can award attorney fees to a defendant who wins their motion for summary judgement thereby increasing the risk of litigation for a plaintiff. Another words, if you file a sexual harassment lawsuit in federal court and it is dismissed prior to a jury trial, a Judge could make you pay the attorney fees of the defendant, which in this case were a little more than $4.5 million.

Victims of sexual harassment should consider this ruling before deciding to undertake a lawsuit in federal court because of the potential for paying the attorney fees of the defendant. In Chicago average attorney fees for employment lawyers defending companies can range from $250-$850 per hour.

"The EEOC believes the court's decisions in the case were wrongfully decided and the agency will be appealing," said EEOC Deputy General Counsel James Lee.

A young 17 year old female farm worker filed a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against her employer Giumarra Vineyards Corp. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of the young victim claiming a non-management worker made daily unwanted sexual advances to the alleged victim. According to the lawsuit, another employer made management aware of what was going on and management failed to stop it. The sexual harassment continued until the young woman and three others complainted directly to management but were terminated 24 hours later.

According to the lawsuit the company tolerated the alleged sexual harassment and thus created a hostile work environment. The company also engaged in retaliation by firing the workers once they complained of being sexually harassed. Some older workers will try to take advantage of younger workers and even think they can get away with sexually harassing them. In this case if the allegations are true the company did not do what it should have.

"Giumarra Vineyards denies the allegations in the complaint filed by the EEOC and will vigorously defend itself against all of the allegations. When this matter is concluded we are confident that our position will be affirmed." said a Guimarra Vineyards release

Gail Wilcox who is the former Assistant County Administrator and she agreed to settle her sexual harassment lawsuit with her former employer for $180,000. The county claims that defending the county by going to trial would potentially cost more than $1 million. To date, the county has spent $337,000 on the case. That seems to be a very high amount and I wonder what the initial settlement demand was for.

Wilcox filed her lawsuit against county supervisors and former boss, David Edge, claiming she was a victim of sexual harassment, retaliation, a hostile work environment and breach of contract. Wilcox and Edge were placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. At the end of the investigation Edge was fired and the county hired an out-of-town attorney to investigate Wilcox. Following that investigation, the board fired Wilcox a mistake that cost over $500,000 when you include the attorney fees and settlement amount.

The city of San Leandro settled 4 for their 7 sexual harassment disputes for $405,000. According to the settlement documents three former San Leandro police officers and a department clerk will receive a total of $405,000. Former Officers Taiwo Pena-Hornung, Christina Tiletile and Kamilah Jackson, and records clerk Amanda Kerr sued the city claiming they were sexually harassed, discriminated against for their gender and national origin, and retaliation.

The trouble isn't over for the city as three female officers still employed also have active lawsuits and their cases are set for trial in October. According to court documents the settlement breaks down as follows. Tiletile was awarded $295,000. Pena-Hornung $50,000, Kerr $35,000 and Jackson $25,000. Sgt. J. DeWayne Stancill was accused of sexual harassment and of creating a hostile work environment in the cases.

Hightstown adult novelties company must pay $500,000 to Doreen Longa a former employee who was fired after complaining of sexual harassment. According to the lawsuit the adult company did not investigate the sexual harassment charges Longa lodged against a co-worker, and Longo was terminated when she complained that she was being retaliated against.

Longo filed a lawsuit based on sexual harassment, retaliation and a hostile work environment after being terminated. In the lawsuit Longo said her bosses ignored her repeated complaints of sexual harassment by a a co-worker and that he even threatened her with violence. Longo filed a formal complaint with managment and was immediately disciplined for poor work performance. Longa was terminated two months later after complaining about the retaliation that was taking place at work. Longa claims her boss told her the reason for the termination was her complaints about sexual harassment.

"The president of the company yelled and screamed at her and disciplined her for the first time in the four years she’d worked there. He accused her of saying bad things about the company.”

Carol Melnick filed a lawsuit against the Monmouth County board in 2005 claiming discrimination based on gender, retaliation, hostile work environment and sexual harassment. The case was settled in 2007 for $470,000 but the details were sealed. In the latest development in the case the New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled the terms should be made public and thus the details were released.

Melnick remains employed by the county despite her award on the sexual harassment lawsuit. When you get a settlement for almost half a million dollars from a public entity, there must be good facts supporting the allegations. Both parties should keep in mind that when a settlement is reached involving a pubilc entity, the terms of the settlement will probably come out and not remain private. Unlike a private company, the public has a right to know how their money is being spent.

The city of Madison and the Overture Center have reached a tentative settlement in the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by receptionist Monica Everson. The exact terms of the agreement are not yet public. The allegations of the sexual harassment lawsuit include Eversons claims that her former boss and Overture director Robert D'Angelo physically and verbally sexually harassing her for more than ten years. D'Angelo no longer works for Overture as he retired after Everson filed her sexual harassment lawsuit ending as fifteen year career.

What probably prompted the settlement was the fact that U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb refused to dismiss the sexual harassment lawsuit, saying both sides had agreed that Everson provided "sufficient evidence to prove that D'Angelo's treatment of her in the 1990s created a ‘hostile work environment.'  The Judge went on to say that is was clear D'Angelo groped, fondled or otherwise inappropiately touched Everson more than 500 times over the course of her employment.

"It is unnecessary to recount all the acts that plaintiff alleges," the judge stated, "because it is clear that even a fraction of them would be sufficient to give rise to a federal claim."

Eightenn former prison guards settled a sexual harassment lawsuit for $2.5 Million. The female prison guards allege they were subjected to sexually demeaning remarks in front of inmates which violated security and put their lives at risk. One female guard alleged a male guard suggested an inmate should have sex with her in an area of the prison not covered by security cameras. Other allegations are that the male guards would use the walkie-talkie system in a jamming fashion to prevent the female guards from asking for help.

It was further alleged that high ups in the prison system were trying to recruit the prison guards as prostitutes. This type of behavior by public officials is outragous and cannot be tolerated. In cases like this the females must come forward and fight for their rights. Employment cases involving sexual harassment and retaliation can be difficult to prove and it helps to have an experienced attorney involved early in the process.

“We had names and dates and places. Some women were asked to join in prostitution rings that were run by lieutenants, and that was substantiated because [one] lieutenant’s partner was arrested for running a prostitution ring,” by Hartford police, attorney Ponvert said.

Stokes-Hodges Chevrolet Cadillac will pay $140,000 to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleged the car dealer allowed a white male management consultant to subject an African American sales manager to racially derogatory comments. The comments occured when the white consultant would visit the dealership three or four times a week over a four week period. As a result of the nasty comments, the African American sales manager was subjected to a hostile work environment.

The comments were humiliating and were always in the presence of other people. The sales manager complained to management about the derogatory comments and at one point two white managers asked the consultant to stop his discriminatory behavior. However the consultant ignored the requests of the white managers and continued to make the derogatory comments at every opportunity. Upper management did not force the consultant to stop his behavior and a lawsuit was filed to protect the rights of the African American employee.

“This is an outrageous case where an African American employee was subjected to humiliating and degrading behavior,” said Bernice Kimbrough, district director for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “

Crowell will pay $21,500 to settle a sexual harassment and constructive discharge lawsuit filed on behalf of Deanna Collins by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). According to court papers Crowell Contract and Design, Inc. subjected Deanna Collins to a hostile work environment. The basis of the hostile work environment was when Timmy Christopher who is the president and co-owner of the company would tug on Collins’ pants and made multiple threats to Collins to pull down her pants.

In a remarkable act of stupidity, Christopher pulled Collins pants down in front of her co-workers which resulted in her great embarrassment and humiliation. Collins could no longer take this and other forms of sexual harassment and quit her position. A constructive discharge occurs when circumstances get so bad and a hostile work environment exists that forces an employee to quit; as it what happened here. It is not very often that a president of a company engages in such blatant sexual harassment and does so in front of witnesses.

“This settlement should serve as a notice to employers that the EEOC does not consider the threat or the act of pulling a woman’s pants down in the workplace to be a sophomoric prank,” said Robert A. Canino, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Dallas District Office.

Continue reading "Crowell Pays $21,500 To Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

Sims Chevrolet pays $85,000 settling a racial discrimination and retalia­tion lawsuit brought by five former employees. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of the former employee. The allegations include that beginning in July 2007, Sims Chevrolet subjected a class of African Americans to different terms and conditions of employment on the basis of their race. Additionally this created a hostile work environment.

According to papers filed in the lawsuit the racial discrimination included racial epithets, such as repeated use of the N-word. Management also made decisions based upon the race of the employee and at one point the company engaged in retaliation against one employee after he complained about the racial discrimination.

EEOC Acting Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence of the Philadelphia District Office, which oversees parts of Ohio, said, “This case of discrimination could have been avoided if the employer had followed Title VII requirements."

Arapahoe Motors, Inc. which does business as Ralph Schomp motors will pay $1.505 million to settle an age discrimination, sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), on behalf of five women and five men. The women claim they were subjected to sexual harassment, gender discrimination and a hostile work environment while employed. Some of the conduct alleged in the lawsuit include offensive comments and physical touching. As a result of reporting this conduct and of refusing to participate in this type of behavior the women claim they were demoted and had their salaries reduced. Some claim they were not promoted because of gender discrimination.

On the age discrimination claim the EEOC claims five male employees over age 40 were terminated because of their ages and replaced with younger, less experienced workers. The lawsuit also claims that a manger under the age of 30 made age-related comments about the older workers before they were fired and in a move that makes no business sense, employees younger than 40 with lower sales numbers were retained.

“Sexual harassment and sex discrimination against women in traditionally male-dominated industries, such as the auto industry, are still unfortunate realities,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru."

Continue reading "Auto Company Pays $1.505 Million to Settle Sexual Harassment, Gender and Age Discrimination Lawsuit With The EEOC" »

Aaron Rental Inc. which operates more than 1500 stores nationwide settled a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC").
According to the lawsuit a general manager of Aaron’s Fairview Heights, Illinois store made sexually explicit comments to a female employer. The young female employee was also solicited for sex on a regular basis by the general manager. The EEOC would not disclose the amount of the settlement which also provides what is known as remedial relief. Remedial relief usually includes training for management and the establishment of a hotline for reporting discrimination.

Also alleged by the EEOC is the manager repeatedly attempted to force the female employee to have sex with him and that the sexual harassment culminated when he assaulted her in the store’s warehouse. Many times older members of management prey upon young female workers because they believe the young workers will not know how to respond to the sexual harassment or will be too afraid to report it. Warehouses are usually isolated and there may not be witnesses around so they could become dangerous places. It is very important to let management know as soon as possible that you are being sexually harassed and seek the advice of an experienced sexual harassment attorney.

Continue reading "Aaron Rentals Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit With EEOC" »

Five former employees of Bell Road Kia and Bell Road Automall will receive $500,000 to settle their sexual harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation lawsuit against the car dealership. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of the former employees and according to the lawsuit the hostile work environment included such disgusting comments as the females being called whores and cunts. The allegations in the lawsuit also say there was widespead use of computers to view pornography and one manager even masterbated while watching pornography and sitting behind a female employee.

According to the lawsuit an openly hostile work environment existed and the dealerships failed to take appropriate corrective action against the known harassers and instead retaliated against female employees who reported the sexual harassment. As a result of complaining to management about sexual harassment all five employees were demoted, terminated, or constructively discharged. This is referred to as retaliation and it violates federal law under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Former employee Julie Blakley said, “We were repeatedly subjected to degrading harassment and the managers made it known to us that they did not take our complaints seriously. Our exposure to abuse was prolonged by the fact that employees did not receive adequate training on preventing sexual harassment or on the process for filing complaints.”

Continue reading "Car Dealer Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit For $500,000" »

A national movie theater chain,Regal Entertainment Group, will pay $175,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") which alleged the company subjected a male employee to sexual harassment by a female co-worker. The lawsuit also alleged the company engaged in retaliation when he complained about the sexual harassment. The EEOC also alleged that as a result of the conduct a hostile work environment existed.

In its lawsuit it was alleged a female co-worker repeatedly grabbed a male workers crotch. The male employee asked the female to stop and when she would not he reported the sexual harassment to his direct supervisor. The direct supervisor then notified the general manager, and she failed to take action and the sexual harassment continued. Additionally the general manager retaliated against the male employee and two other supervisory employees who witnessed the sexual harassment. The retaliation took the form of unfair performance evaluations which were lower than they should have been, unwarranted discipline, and a level of scrutiny of daily job performance that was not warranted.

Continue reading "More Than Popcorn At This Movie Theatre" »

Kristi Mitchell and Veronica Cobb both worders for State Farm insurance agent Obie Sorrell filed a lawsuit against him and the parent company alleging sexual harassment. The two women also are claiming a hostile work environment. Mitchell is the office office manager with over 7 years with the company while Cobb was hired as a customer service manager in May. State Farm in headquartered in Bloomington Illinois. With offices in Peoria and Chicago I see many cases like this were the boss creates a hostile work environment and the corporate office only cases about how it may affect them.

According to the lawsuit Sorrell repeatedly made vile comments to both women and called Cobb a "prostitute" and a "whore". Allegedly he said she was sleeping with policyholders. The lawsuit alleges that Sorrell would put his hands on both women even though they asked him to stop. Mitchell and Cobb complained to two State Farm officials, about Sorrell's alleged behavior, but nothing was done and the sexual harassment continued. The two women claim at one point State Farm executives apologized to them but were only interested in if the women were going to file a lawsuit.

When Cobb asked Sorrell not to call her a prostitute, according to the complaint, Sorrell replied, "This is my shop. My name is on the sign and if you don't like it you can get out."

Comments like that are a form of retaliation in Illinois. If a boss or management threatens a negative job action because you are trying to complain about sexual harassment or otherwise stop the sexual harassment you can file a claim with the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

The International House of Pancakes ("IHOP") will pay $105,000 to two waitresses who were sexually harassed by an assistant manager.The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") handled the case on behalf of the two waitresses and a federal jury awarded them $105,000 at the conclusion of the trial. Both waitresses were teenagers when they worked for IHOP, and according to testimony at trial were subjected to unwelcome physical touching, propositions for sex and sexual comments. This behavior created a hostile work environment. Additionally one of the waitresses alleged retaliation because she refused to the sexual advances.

Other waitresses said they faced sexual harassment and reported that IHOP, did not correct the situation. The assistant manager accused of the sexual harassment quit for unexplained reasons, at the time the investigation started. One waitress could have received more money but jurors were presented with evidence of her MySpace page, with links to sexually-charged materials. You can see how important it is to not have that type of material on the Internet. The second waitress who didn't have that type of material on the Internet was awarded $100,000 in punitive damages.

It is clear the jury was "outraged" by the way the company handled the situation, Jean Kamp, associate regional attorney for the EEOC Chicago District Office said.

Continue reading "IHOP Pays $105,000 in Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

In a recent case, Seybert v. International Group Inc, email was used by the defense to show that the plaintiff in a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit would not have been as offended by the conduct of the defendant as she claims. The jury said, plaintiff Susan Seybert was not sexually harassed by her supervisor, Brett Marchand, and there was no retaliation aginst Seybert once she complained to management.

What happend in this case is the defense utilized emails of a sexual nature that Seybert sent to other individuals which showed things of a sexual nature did not offend her. According to the lawsuit, the emails used sexual words, metaphors, puns and other innuendo to amuse, entertain and convey various humorous messages. In lawsuits involving sexual harassment a plaintiff must satisfy both an objective and a subjective test when alleging a hostile work environment. It is very important to utilize your company email for business only and to be aware that the company can get into your computer and retreive even deleted emails.

At trial the defense used a e-mail which showed a photo of a naked man in a Santa hat, lying on his belly, with a caption that told the recipient to turn him over to get at the "present."

Continue reading "Your Email History May Hurt Your Sexual Harassment Case" »

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and legendary restaurant Tavern on the Green settled a sexual harassment lawsuit for $2.2 million. According to the lawsuit there were claims of sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and retaliation. The alleged sexual harassment included groping female staff members, demands for sex and sexual favors and the regular use of graphic sexual comments.

As is typical in these types of settlements the Tavern on the Green denied any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The managers accused of engaging in severe and pervasive sexual harassment, and retaliation are not longer working for the restaurant. Most of the sexual harassment came from one long-time manager who has since left the restaurant. You can see how expensive the conduct of one manager can be to a business.

The Fresno city's fire department discriminated against one of its recruits because she was a woman and as a result a jury awarded Michelle Maher nearly $2.5 million in her gender discrimination lawsuit. Maher alleged she was a victim of gender discrimination and a hostile work environment when she was forced out of a Fresno fire department training class. A hostile work environment exists when an employee is treated different because of some discriminatory conduct and the treatment results in an adverse employment decision.

According to evidence presented during the federal trial Maher was intentionally forced out of the training class even though some male recruits with lower test scores remained in the training class. Many times gender discrimination is proved by comparing similarly situation males and females to see that one gender is not being fairly treated. It is rare that managers or executives come right out and send a memo not to hire females or to drop them from training because of their gender.

"It's just overwhelming to think that it's over," Maher said after the verdict.

Continue reading "Woman Awarded $2.5 Million in Gender Discrimination Lawsuit" »

Six employees of Ruby Tuesday settled their sexual harassment lawsuit for a total of $225,00 which was broken down as follows: Michelle Gydosh, $101,000, Melissa Johnson, $32,000,
Rosemary Singer, $57,000, Dawn Kovacs, $60,000 and Nicole Wallace, $5,000. According to the lawsuit General Manager Christopher Mendoza made sexually charged remarks to adult and teen female employees. Sometimes he also remarked about customers.

Former Ruby Tuesday waitress Michelle Gydosh complained that the sexually harassing environment was so intolerable that she was unable to continue working there. Five co-workers joined Gydosh in the lawsuit, with each woman making similar claims. Gydosh said that from August 2006 onward, Mendoza repeatedly made embarrassing sexual remarks about her body, such as "your breasts look good today" or "your breasts look really nice."

According to the complaint, Mendoza constantly told Gydosh that she was "hot" and that he wanted to "make a porn video" with her.

In June 2007, Gydosh became ill during her shift and a co-worker asked Mendoza if Gydosh could go home. "All she needs is a good (expletive) up her (expletive), and I'd be good for that," Mendoza replied, according to the complaint. Disgusted, Gydosh left the restaurant and submitted a written complaint through Ruby Tuesday's complaint hotline. Gydosh also complained directly to Krista Williams, regional service manager, and to Jim James, district manager. In all instances Ruby Tuesday was put on notice of the sexual harassment and hostile work environment and did nothing to stop it.

Continue reading "Ruby Tuesday Dishes Out More Than Food and Pays $225,000 To Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

Dominion Correctional Services, LLC and Corrections Corporation of America, both doing business as Crowley County Correctional Facility, paid $1.3 million and other significant remedial relief to settle a large sexual harassment lawsuit on behalf of 21 female former workers. The workers were allegedly subjected to a gender based hostile work environment and retaliation at an all-male, privately run medium security prison in Olney Springs, Colo.

According to the lawsuit the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleged female employees at the prison were subjected to unwelcome sexual harassment that included male managers forcing them to perform sex acts in order to keep their jobs. This adds new meaning to the idea of working hard to get ahead. According to the lawsuit a female officer made a complaint of sexual harassment against a male coworker, and was then placed in an isolated location, where she was raped by the man about whom she had complained.

Another shocking allegation is that the Chief of Security forced a female corrections officer to have intercourse with him, which she did in order to keep her job. Other male managers similarly expected their female subordinates to provide sexual favors. A female corrections officer was coerced first into performing oral sex, and later intercourse, with a male captain, for fear of losing her job. Another female officer testified that a male lieutenant regularly made comments to her about how she looked and commented that he could do a lot better than her husband. He then allegedly told her that if she wanted to keep her job she needed to sleep with him. She resigned.

"We at the EEOC see an unfortunately high number of sexual harassment cases, but what allegedly happened here was shocking,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “No working woman should ever have to endure harassment and requests for sexual favors by managers in order to earn a paycheck – or suffer retaliation for complaining about the illegal harassment.”

Continue reading "Prison Pays $1.3 Million to Settle Sexual Harassment Case" »

Adecco a staffing firm was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC")after it failed to take appropriate action when female employees complained about sexual harassment at a client site. According to the lawsuit another employee was compelled to quit because of ongoing sexual harassment. Adecco continued to assign women to the plant despite the sexually hostile work environment, according to the lawsuit.

The EEOC reported that Adecco assigned Veronica Jalpa and other women to Pittsburgh Plastics Manufacturing Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, and that a Pittsburgh Plastics supervisor sexually harassed them through sexual comments and touching. The EEOC said Jalpa asked for a different shift to avoid the supervisor but was fired by Adecco.

“Adecco has fully cooperated with the EEOC and we are disappointed that it has decided to take this course of action given the information that was made available to the agency,” Adecco wrote.

Continue reading "Staffing Firms Adecco Sued For Sexual Harassment" »

The Country Inn hotel is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for sexual harassment. The EEOC alleges the hotel’s management condoned the sexual harassment of several female employees and penalized the women when they complained about the hostile work environment. According to the lawsuit Candace Bland and other female servers including those under 18 were subjected to pervasive sexual harassment by two male coworkers.

According to allegations in the lawsuit, one man dropped his pants in front of the female employees and both male employees repeatedly engaged in offensive and unwelcome touching of female employees, including grabbing their breasts, “humping” against the women, slapping their buttocks and kissing them. Both men also made repeated requests for dates and persistent use of offensive and demeaning language towards the women.

Despite complaints by Bland and other women to the owner and other managers, the employer failed to take prompt measures to stop the harassment and after Bland filed a complaint with the EEOC her hours were cut and she was removed from work for a week. Other women who complained about the hostile work environment also had their hours reduced or the terms of their employment altered. In Illinois this type of conduct is called retaliation.

“It is unacceptable for an employer to punish employees who complain about sexual harassment by reducing their work hours and thereby reducing their income. Retaliation like this has a chilling effect on those who choose to exercise their federally protected rights and is blatantly illegal,” said EEOC Acting Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence.

Halliburton employee Catarina Rose claims she was subjected to sexual harassment, and a hostile work environment and after reporting a sexual assault--retaliation. According to her lawsuit, Rose was subjected to egregious sexual harassment and intimidation by male coworkers and supervisors, including a sexual assault by a male co-worker.

Once Rose reported the sexual harassment she claims Halliburton management told her "I'll make it so hard on you out here that you'll quit," and "no one asked you to be here so deal with it," along with several other degrading and explicit proposals. Rose states she was forced to use her vacation time for the psychiatric evaluation that was required for her to return to work. The employee who committed the act was disciplined but allowed to return to work after a few days.

Continue reading "Halliburton Employee Sues For Sexual Harassment" »

McDonalds is being sued for sexual harassement by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). According to the lawsuit McDonalds failed to stop sexual harassment of male employees by a female supervisor at a restaurant in New Jersey. The EEOC claims Mcdonalds engaged in unlawful employment practices based on sexual harassment and created a hostile work environment.

The EEOC claims the underage workers were subjected to unwelcome comments about their appearance by an assistant manager. McDonald’s allowed the supervisor to physically grab, touch, spank, hug, and pinch male employees without their consent because of their gender. In situations where minors work with adults there is also an extra burden on the employer to make sure the adults who are in management positions are not doing anything inappropriate to the minor workers.

“McDonald’s failed to take sufficient action to remedy or prevent sexual harassment of its employees,” according to the complaint. The unlawful employment practices were intentional and “done with malice or with reckless indifference to the federally protected rights of Charging Party.”

Continue reading "Can You Say McSexual Harassment?" »

Hilton Hotels in Chicago was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleging the hotel violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting its Hispanic employees to a hostile work environment. The hostile work environment came in the form of subjecting the Hispanic workers to frequent ethnic slurs from the hotel’s executive chef. The slurs included referring to Hispanic employees under the chef's supervision as wetbacks, stupid Mexicans and f**cking Mexicans.

In cases like this the EEOC will first try to negotiate a settlement between the parties and if unsuccessful will then file a lawsuit if the facts support it. In a down economy like we presently have, many employees will look the other way or put up with this type of discriminatory conduct because they are afraid of losing their job. It takes guts to come forward and file a complaint to protect your rights. Another option for the two workers would have been to file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR"). The IDHR would automatically cross file the complaint with the EEOC. I prefer the IDHR venue because they seem better staffed to investigate claims and I prefer to stay in the state system.

“Employees should never have to put up with such humiliation and ridicule on the job,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru.

Continue reading "EEOC Files Lawsuit Against Hilton Hotels Chicago For Hostile Work Environment" »

A 29-year-old former starbucks employee filed a sexual harassment lawsuit alleging that young male co-workers consistently sexually harassed her by putting bananas between their legs as well as placing them in napkin dispensers. The woman alleges in her lawsuit that the males also wrote in the bathrooms using bananas as phallic symbols with one directed at her and inscribed with a particularly offensive remark.

The behavior began in 2008 when the store began selling fruit smoothies. The woman was also the victim of a sexual assault that same year. According to the lawsuit the sexual harassment was reported on many occasions but management failed to take any action or to stop the sexual harassment from continuing. The woman quit in November 2008 because she could no longer tolerate the hostile work environment. In a statement Starbucks claims it has a policy that strictly prohibits discrimination or sexual harassment in the workplace.

Continue reading "Starbucks Sued For Sexual Harassment" »

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed a lawsuit against Knouse Foods Cooperative, Inc. alleging that female farmworkers were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment by male coworkers at its processing plant. According to the lawsuit the men engaged in sexual harassment by asking female employees to show their breasts, asking the females out on dates for sex and making other sexual advances to female employees. This type of behavior in the work place seems to be getting more common place and employees have to stand up and hire an attorney to protect their rights.

The lawsuit also alleges the women were subjected to discrimination because of their Mexican national origin. The Mexican women had things thrown at them and they were called derogatory terms such as “dumb Mexican” or “stupid Mexican.” The women complained about the sexual harassment and national origin discrimination to supervisors and managers, but Knouse Foods failed to take prompt and effective action to stop the harassment. The harassment and discrimination only go worse after the women complained.

“This is another tragic example of an employer failing to stop cruel, humiliating, and illegal victimization of vulnerable employees,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru.

Continue reading "EEOC Files Sexual Harassment and National Origin Lawsuit Against Knouse Foods Cooperative" »

The Illinois Human Rights Act ("IHRA") also known as, 775 ILCS 5/1-101 will now offer protection to individuals who have an order of protection. Starting at the first of the year it will be considered unlawful discrimination, based on order of protection status, to take any negative job action on an individual if they have an order of protection and there is no legitimate business reason for the negative job action.

This new law adds order of protection status to the current protected classifications of religion, age, race, national origin, gender, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, military status, and unfavorable discharge from military service. The initial charge would be filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights in either Chicago or Springfield.

Continue reading "New Illinois Law Takes Affect January 1, 2010 Adding Additional Discrimination Protections" »

Dolgencorp LLC, which does business as Dollar General is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for sexual harassment and retaliation. The lawsuit states that from at February 2005 through May 2006, Amanda Tittle Strickland, Maria Kinley Strickland, Tina Baxley and other similarly situated female employees were subjected to sexual harassment by Dollar General. The women were sexually harassed by a male store manager with crude and offensive sexual comments, unwelcome touching of the women's buttocks and breasts and request for sex.

All of the women complained about the sexual harassment. The company failed to take appropriate action to stop the sexual harassment and retaliated against the women. Strickland had to quit her job to escape the harassment. The EEOC is asking for an injunction to stop Dollar General from engaging in discriminatory employment practices. The women are seeking monetary damages.

Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for the EEOC's Charlotte District Office, said, "In this case, Dollar General had a policy prohibiting sexual harassment. However, the evidence obtained by the EEOC indicates that despite the policy, a member of Dollar General's management created the sexually hostile work environment for the female employees and other managers knew about it but took no action to stop it.

Continue reading "Dollar General Sued For Sexual Harassment and Retaliation" »

An Information Technology analyst for Kenny Construction filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against his female boss in cook county. A copy of the lawsuit is here:Lott Complaint
Lott who is also African-American alleges his white female boss discriminated against him because of his race, also known as racial discrimination. According to the complaint, the female boss, Laura Manaugh was the IT Manager and said the following to Lott: "I love you", Managers and employees end up sleeping together because of the vibe of the working relationship", "You remind me of my husband, he is so good in bed", and "Woman are in control because we have the pussy."

According to the complaint Lott complained about the sexual harassment to human resources and nothing was done to stop the behavior. In fact according to Lott, the workplace became a hostile working environment after he reported the offensive behavior. Lott is seeking damages in excess of $50,000.

The Mason City Council reached a settlement on an age discrimination and gender discrimination lawsuit but did not disclose how much it will cost the taxpayers. Pat Gansen, 57, a city animal-control officer for eleven years and city employee for seventeen years alleges she was denied a job promotion because of age and gender discrimination. Gansen filed her lawsuit in June 2008, claiming the city permitted gender and age discrimination and harassment, and retaliated against her complaints by failing to promote her.

Gansen also alleged discrimination based on pay and benefits, and that she was denied her equal protection under the law by denying her equal pay-a violation of the civil rights act of 1964. Defendants in the lawsuit were the city, chief building official Chuck McGreevey, city engineer Mark Rahm and human resources director Tom Meyer, who is also the city attorney.

The Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas violated federal law by creating a hostile work environment for Ezzat Elias an Egyptian kitchen employee through a daily barrage of derogatory comments due to his national origin and retaliating against him when he reported it according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). According to the lawsuit Sahara's supervisors and coworkers continuously belittled and harassed Elias, whose job was delivering food from the kitchen to the hotel buffet and maintaining the buffet, because of his Egyptian heritage.

The harassment included offensive comments, slurs, and graffiti, such as being called “Bin Laden,” “Taliban,” and “f ____ Egyptian” and being told to “go back to Egypt.” Elias was also targeted with graffiti, which he was then required to wash off. Despite Elias’s repeated complaints of such harassment, the defendants failed to take effective measures to stop it. Instead, supervisors retaliated against him, which included disciplinary write-ups and suspension. Retaliation occurs when an employee complains about being discriminated against and supervisors do nothing about it and in fact either encourage the discriminatory behavior or punish the employee for reporting the discriminatory conduct.

National origin discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for Elias, as well as injunctive relief to prevent such discrimination in the future.

"There is no excuse for such blatant and abusive behavior targeting workers on the basis of their national origin,” said EEOC Las Vegas Local Director Lucy Orta. “Employers must train their managers and frontline supervisors to prevent discrimination and to take prompt and effective action against harassment when it occurs."

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") settled a sexual harassment lawsuit against Luby’s Restaurants Limited Partnership, doing business as Luby’s San Antonio #19 (Luby’s), for $135,000 and significant remedial relief on behalf of a class of female workers who were subjected to a pervasive sexually hostile work environment for years.

The lawsuit alleged Luby’s with subjected female employees, including a teenager, to a sexually hostile work environment at its Floyd Curl Ave., San Antonio location. Specifically, the EEOC said that the women were subjected to, among other things, repeated unwelcome sexual touching, numerous sexual comments, as well as gestures and innuendo. The sexual harassment, which was allowed to continue for at least four years, also included a work atmosphere permeated with lewd and sexually offensive behavior, including restraining one woman in the women’s restroom while requesting sexual favors from her. Additionally, one of the female employees was forced to quit her job because Luby’s failed to take appropriate action to address the harassment.

EEOC Supervisory Trial Attorney Judith G. Taylor added, “Sexual harassment affects far too many workers in the service industries, but especially teenagers who feel they have no recourse and are especially vulnerable because of their age and inexperience. Every employer has a duty to protect its workforce from harassment.”

Sexual harassment violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which also prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin, and protects employees who complain about such offenses from retaliation.

Continue reading "EEOC Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Luby's Restaurant For $135,000" »

The Board of Public Works settled a sexual harassment lawsuit for $65,000 with an employee in the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.The employee alleged she was subjected to, sexual harassment, gender discrimination and a hostile work environment by the conduct of at least nine of her male co-workers while she was employed in the maintenance shop at the Baltimore City Detention Center from July of 2004 until May of 2007.

A hostile work environment exists when an employee experiences workplace harassment and fears going to work because of the offensive, intimidating, or oppressive atmosphere generated by the harasser based sexual harassment or gender discrimination among other things. As part of the settlement, the woman, who still works for the department, has agreed to dismiss her case with prejudice and release all claims against the department and the state of Maryland.

In Illinois, an employer may not terminate or otherwise take an adverse job action against an employee because of the gender of the employee. The policies and employment rules must be applied equally to all employees. Policies and employment rules which have a disproportionately adverse impact on one gender are strictly prohibited under both Illinois and Federal law.

Hardhat Bianca Wisniewski broke through the construction industry's glass ceiling and hit the concrete wall of sexual harassment. Wisniewski sued JPMorgan Chase, Total Safety Consulting and others in Manhattan Supreme Court for a harassment campaign she says began when she took over as safety coordinator at the company's 270 Park Ave. construction site in 2007. Following a period on disability, Wisniewski was fired from her job with Total Safety Consulting of Long Island City, Queens after complaining of the sexual harassment. This constitutes retaliation.

Wisniewski alleges elevator operator Steve Greco groped and propositioned her while her bosses brushed off her claims. According to the lawsuit, Greco harassed Wisniewski with lewd come-ons that repulsed the widowed mother of two teenage daughters. According to the Daily News Wisnieski said Greco made the following statements to her.

"I just want to take you to dinner, no f------," she says Greco told her while grabbing her around the waist.

"Everybody kisses engineer Steve," the suit quotes Greco as boasting. "This is a man's world, not a place for women to work."

In 1995, the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission issued its report on the employment of women at the highest levels of business. The Commission found that within Fortune 1000 industrial and Fortune 500 companies, 95-97% of senior managers were male. The Commission also found numerous obstacles regarding the advancement of women in business, including inadequate outreach and recruitment practices, lack of mentoring opportunities and the placement of women in positions within corporations where they are less likely to gain the necessary experience and contacts for future advancement.

Continue reading "Female Hard Hat Hits Glass Ceiling and Files $20 Million Dollar Lawsuit" »

Laura Valenziano an 18 year employee of United Healtcare filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") against United Healtcare alleging they discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation and also that they retaliated against her for reporting the discriminatory conduct of her manager. It all started when Valenziano received a new manager and met the manager in person. The new manager began to make inquiries into Valenziano's personal life and ask about her female partner. After these non-job related inquires, Valenziano began to be treated different.

As reported in the Windy City Times, "within two weeks of the performance review, Valenziano was put on corrective action, which meant that she had 30 days to improve whatever had been listed on her evaluation as poor or she faced termination. The mention of a demotion was removed from the copy of the evaluation she received after protesting the corrective action." This is usually how discrimination in the workplace happens. The manager will start to put the employee on some sort of "corrective action" or "improvement plan", shortly after the employee complains about discriminatory conduct.

“It was one of the worst performance evaluations I've ever had. Along with that I received the largest bonus I've ever received,” said Valenziano. “The evaluation mentioned my devotion to the job.”

Continue reading "United Healthcare Sued For Sexual Orientation Discrimination" »

Morristown information technology specialist Ann Marie Spagnola alleged her boss, Eric Maurer, subjected her to sexual harassment by exposing her to sexually explicit materials. She alleges was called into his office to remove a sexually explicit screen saver from his computer and when she reported this and other conduct to Morristown Mayor John Delaney, he responded angrily each time. As a result of this action Spagnola submitted her resignation. Spagnola alleges there was a hostile work environement and retaliation as a result of nothing being done after she made her complaint.

After depositions were taken in the case it became obvious Morristown did not have a sexual harassment policy and that Spagnola had in fact been harassed and reported the harassment to the appropriate authority. Now eight years after Spagnola filed her first complaint and five years after she resigned, the parties settled for $981,990.

Michigan will pay $100 million to settle a class-action sexual harassment lawsuit by more than 500 female inmates who claimed they were sexually assaulted, abused and harassed by male corrections staff. The lawsuit involving Scott Correctional Facility was filed in 1996 but tied up in the courts for years. Evidence in the 2008 trial showed a sexually hostile atmosphere in which women were groped, raped and subjected to inappropriate searches and other harassment by guards.

A jury in 2008 awarded 10 female inmates $15.5 million for abuse they suffered at the hands of male staff at Scott Correctional Facility in Plymouth. A second jury awarded more than $8 million to female inmates at another facility.

"It does not constitute an admission of liability, but a compromise of the disputed claims," Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said.

Simon Property Group, Inc., a nationwide commercial property management company, violated federal law by subjecting Hispanic employees to national origin discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") charges in a lawsuit. Simon Property Group owns and/or manages various shopping malls throughout the country, including the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where the EEOC said the discriminatory acts took place.

According to the lawsuit, a class of Hispanic housekeepers were subjected to a hostile work environment while performing custodial and janitorial duties at the Forum Shops. The harass­ment began in 2005, when the housekeeping shift lead was hired, and ended when he was terminated for reasons related to the harassment. The housekeeping shift lead referred to housekeepers and other Latino employees as “wetbacks,” “tacos,” and “burritos” and repeatedly told them to “go back to Mexico” – among other things. He also told the Latinos that Mexicans have “inferior intelligence and capability in comparison to whites, and that is why whites are in power.”

EEOC Regional Attorney Anna Park of the Los Angeles District Office, which has jurisdiction for southern Nevada, said, “The abuse of Latino workers will not be tolerated by the EEOC.

Continue reading "EEOC Files National Origin Lawsuit Against Simon Property Group " »

United States District Judge Anderson ruled that a series of sexually offensive comments made to three women employed by SkyWest Airlines, Inc., as alleged by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") in a lawsuit could constitute actionable sexual harassment. SkyWest filed a Motion for Summary Judgment which was rejected by the Court. In denying defendant SkyWest's motion for summary judgment, the court said that a reasonable jury "could find the comments to be 'uninvited sexual solicitations' and 'obscene language' rather than merely vulgar banter."

In its lawsuit EEOC v. SkyWest Airlines, Inc., N.D. Ill. No 07 C 4925, the EEOC alleges that SkyWest discriminated against three former employees by subjecting them to sexual harassment by a co-worker and then firing them in retaliation for complaining about the hostile work environment, all in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The court noted that between six and eight offensive remarks were made to each of the women and included the speaker's statements,

"that he wished he could put his mouth on her breasts" and "that he wanted to have sex with her and get between her thighs."

"We find that a reasonable fact finder could find that these comments to be severe enough to constitute 'uninvited sexual solicitations' and 'obscene language,' rather than merely vulgar banter."

Continue reading "SkyWest Airlines Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Going To Trial" »

The United States Supreme Court in 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett, 129 S. Ct. 1456 (2009) by a 5-4 vote held that a provision in a collective bargaining agreement ("Agreement") which clearly and unmistakeably requires employees to arbitrate their statutory discrimination claims is enforceable and precludes employees from asserting their statutory claims in state or federal courts. In laymans terms what this means is that if you are in a union and through bargaining the union agrees to settle all employment claims through arbitration, your sole remedy as a union employee is to arbitrate the claim. You will be forever barred from filing a claim in any federal or state court.

This decision does not affect employees who are not in a union as they have not bargained through their representatives the terms of their employment. The types of claims involved could include sexual harassment, gender discrimination, age discrimination, racial discrimination. Americans with Disabilities, age discrimination, religious discrimination, retaliation claims and sexual orientations claims.

The Court did hold that the Agreement to arbitrate must be "clear and unmistakable". One issue the Court did not address is what happens if the Union does not take the employees claim to arbitration? There are two ways to interpert the Court's decision in Pyett, one the employee would have no further remedy or in that case the employee court take the case to state or federal court, however the latter seems less likely under Pyett.

The Vail Corporation operators of ski resorts in Vail and Keystone, Colo., will pay $80,000 and furnish other relief to settle a religious and gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC").

According to the lawsuit, EEOC v. The Vail Corporation, 07-cv-02035-REB-KLM, Lisa Marie Cornwell, an emergency services supervisor at the Keystone Resort, was subjected to harassment based on her Christian religion and her gender, denied religious accommodation and treated less favorably than her male colleagues. The EEOC said that Cornwell’s supervisor, Rick Garcia, forbade her and another Christian employee from even discussing their Christian beliefs with one another while at work, and would not allow them to listen to Christian music while on duty, because it might offend other employees, but had no similar restrictions on music with profanity or lyrics promoting violence against women, which were offensive to Cornwell.

EEOC Denver Field Director Nancy Sienko added, “Claims of religious discrimination have increased by more than 80 percent in the last ten years.

Additionally, according to the EEOC, Garcia ridiculed Cornwell for asking for scheduling accommodation so that she could attend her preferred religious services, and denied her requests while scheduling lower ranking officers for the shifts she requested. Also, Garcia created and tolerated a hostile work environment where he and other male employees made offensive sexual comments and jokes in the workplace and subjected Cornwell to sexual harassment, the EEOC alleged.

Cornwell complained to various Keystone managers and human resource staff about the harassment and being scheduled to miss her religious services on Sundays, but no action was taken to resolve the problems. EEOC alleged that Cornwell was fired in retaliation for her last complaint, made less than ten days before her termination.

Continue reading "Vail Corporation Pays $80,000 To Settle Religious and Gender Discrimination Lawsuit" »

Federal District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer entered a consent decree resolving two lawsuits against Chateau Del Mar, Inc. and Hickory Properties, Inc., known as Hickory Hills Country Club. Under the decree, the defendants are required pay $590,000, including attorneys’ fees, to a class of women who endured a sexually hostile work environment and retaliation, and, in addition, up to another $100,000 to African American applicants who were denied hire because of their race, also known as racial discrimination.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") lawsuit, filed on March 25, 2008 under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 alleged that the principal and manager of the facility sexually harassed a class of women employees over a period of years and refused to hire African American applicants. Female employees were called derogatory names and belittled as well as enduring sexual advances and, in some instances, physical assaults.

Shortly after three of the women filed their own private federal lawsuit for sexual harassment on October 24, 2007 (captioned Curry, Knable, & Raddatz v. Chateau Del Mar, Inc., Steven Gianakas, and Hickory Properties, Inc., No. 07 C 6021), Chateau Del Mar and Steven Gianakas sued them in Illinois state court. Their seven-count complaint alleged a wide variety of claimed wrongs, including, but not limited to, physical and mental injuries, “tripping and pushing Gianakas,” breach of fiduciary duty, and destroying property. (Chateau Del Mar and Steven P. Gianakas v. Knable, et al, Circuit Court of Cook County No. 2007L012463.)

“This serious and ongoing harassment of women was unconscionable enough. Then these defendants made a bad situation worse by punishing the victims for engaging in protected activity,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “This kind of retaliation is plainly illegal, even if it is cleverly disguised as a supposedly legitimate lawsuit.”

An EEOC investigation determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that the women were sued because they exercised their federally protected rights to protest discrimination. The circuit court of Cook County dismissed the lawsuit Chateau Del Mar and Gianakas had filed. Thereafter, the EEOC filed a second lawsuit on September 22, 2008 against Chateau Del Mar for retaliation. The three individual private plaintiffs intervened in the EEOC’s retaliation case, and all three suits were docketed as related cases before U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer.

Continue reading "Hickory Hills Country Club To Pay $690,000 To Settle EEOC Sexual Harassment, Retaliation and Racial Discrimination Lawsuit" »

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") settled a gender discrimination lawsuit for $1.45 millinois and significant equitable relief against Schott North America, a multinational developer and manufacturer of special glass and specialty materials, components and systems, based in Elmsford, N.Y. In addition to the $1.45 million in monetary relief, the three-year consent decree provides substantial equitable relief, including: injunctive relief enjoining Schott from engaging in unlawful discrimination under Title VII or retaliation; annual anti-discrimination training of all supervisors and managers at the Duryea, Pa. facility; and the posting of a notice about the settlement.

The EEOC charged that Schott laid off women because of their sex after a company reorganization in October 2004 of its specialty glass plant in Duryea, Pa. Prior to the reorganization, glass production at the plant was generally divided into two parts, the “hot end” and the “cold end”; 95.3% of the hot-end workers were male and 76.6% of the cold-end workers were female.

As part of the reorganization, the company created a new position of “melting line operator” and used a “skills matrix” to determine who would obtain these new positions. The glass company laid off employees whom it did not select for the melting line operator position. In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that the skills matrix system benefited male employees, did not accurately measure the skills truly needed to perform the melting line operator job and had an adverse impact on female applicants – who were selected for layoff at a significantly higher rate than male employees. The EEOC alleged six female employees were not selected for melting line operator positions and were laid off because of their sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Acting EEOC Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said, “This significant settlement demonstrates the EEOC's commitment to securing meaningful relief for victims of systemic sex discrimination.”

Continue reading "Schott North America Must Pay $1.45 To Settle Gender Discrimination Lawsuit" »

Although the title suggests damages in a sexual harassment case, these damages are also available in most discrimination cases.
1. Economic Damages--consist of back and front pay plus incidentals. Included in this calculation are benefits. Back pay is the amount of money equal to wages an employee would have earned, including all benefits from the date of discharge through the date of final judgment. Front pay is an amount of money equal to wages and benefits the employee will lose in the future because of a lower paying job or no job at all. Incidentals may be relocation costs, education costs for retraining and costs for tools if required at a new position.

2. Emotional Distress Damages--There is new specific formula for this calculation and there are many factors to consider including, the credibility of the employee, length of employment, believeability of witnesses, prior or pre-existing similar injuries, nature and extent of counseling or other medical treatment, and strength of the underlying case.

3. Punitive Damages--Under Title VII and ADA violations punitive damages may be awarded. In order to recover the employee must prove the employer engaged in a discriminatory practice or discriminatory practices with malice or with reckless indifference to the federally protected rights of the employee, but also that liability for the punitive damages should be imputed to the employer.

4. Attorneys' Fees--All federal anti discrimination statutes and those in Illinois provide for the recovery of attorney fees by the prevailing party. Discretion as to the amount is up to the Judge.

Continue reading "Damages In A Sexual Harassment Case" »

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed suit against CRST Van Expedited in September 2007 on behalf of 265 former employees, alleging it failed to protect women driving on two-driver teams from unwelcome sexual conduct and harassment from male drivers and trainers. Chief Judge Linda Reade last week dismissed the EEOC's claim that CRST had a "pattern or practice" of tolerating sexual harassment. However Judge Reade acknowledged 146 female drivers "variously suffered physical, mental and/or emotional abuse at the hands of their male co-drivers and lead drivers." Additionally the Judge said there was evidence of male drivers crawling into women's bunks uninvited, ordering women off trucks and tossing their belongings out of cabs, and of male drivers punching, kicking, grabbing, fondling and raping female drivers.

According to the Judge, CRST provided evidence that it has a policy against sexual harassment, has multiple channels for reporting sexual harassment, and has acted on sexual harassment claims. CRST dismissed at least one driver for sexual harassment and in dozens of cases, it made sure some males no longer were teamed with female drivers.

The Los Angeles City Council today approved a $130,000 settlement in a sexual harassment complaint by Mary Cummins-Cobb against departing Animal Services Director Ed Boks. The lawsuit, filed by animal activist Mary Cummins-Cobb alleged Boks engaged in "inappropriate and unprofessional conduct" including trying to hug and kiss her, calling her frequently and using vulgar comments with her. Boks resigned last month in the face of pressure from officials, with complaints over his decision-making and operation of the department.

Cummins-Cobb had been working with Boks to develop the Animal Services Web site, but she had to leave because of the way she was being treated. After leaving the post, Cummins-Cobb alleged in her lawsuit that she lost other jobs because of Boks. Cummins-Cobb filed a lawsuit as a result of being fired alleging sexual harassment, retaliation and the creation of a hostile work environment.

Cummins-Cobb also alleged that Boks would come to her residence drunk late at night and ask her out for a date.

Continue reading "Activist Settles Sexual Harassment Case For $130,000" »

Jance Worthen-Caldwell was awarded $1.86 million in a civil sexual harassment lawsuit, after a jury in Brooklyn decided she was ridiculed and sexually abused by her employer at a home health care agency. Steven Ostrovsky was ordered to pay Caldwell $1.86 million for past and future pain and suffering. The award for future pain and suffering will be paid regardless of whether or not Worthen-Caldwell goes back to work at that agency.

Caldwell had asked for damages totaling $400 million, plus legal costs because Ostrovsky made sexually explicit comments and demanded sexual favors from her "as a term of employment." The jury found that Ostrovsky's behavior was "more than just a trivial slight or minor inconvenience" and that he had made unwanted sexual advances or demands toward Worthen-Caldwell that she rejected.

"I tried to hold onto my job because I don't have a college degree," she said. "But it got to the point where I could not continue to have this man touch me, or rub himself up against me any time he wanted to."

The Illinois Supreme Court overturned an appellate court deceision and ruled the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department is liable for damages and legal costs in a sexual harassment case. The case was sent back to the Illinois Human Rights Commission to determine the amount of damages. The case stems from actions in 1998 involving Sgt. Ron Yanor and Donna Feleccia Scroggin. In that case Scroggin alleged Yanor invited her to accompany him to a bar, showed up at her house uninvited, and forced her to kiss him.

Scroggin’s attorney, Mary Lee Leahy, said the court’s decision will force employers to take more initiative when it comes to curbing sexual harassment.

The Illinois Human Rights Commission initially awarded Scroggin $10,000 in damages and her attorney $13,400 in legal costs.

In the majority opinion, Justice Anne Burke wrote that “the evidence of the forged letter, together with the other conduct proved by Feleccia, was sufficient to establish a hostile working environment.”

Dallas Fire-Rescue ("DFR") faces a second sexual harassment lawsuit after a female employee, Leanne Siri found semen spilled and smeared on her desk. The body fluid was on her keyboard, on a photo of her daughter and inside the coffeec up she drank from. Siri said she was recently demoted as the highest ranking civilian for reporting sexual harassment to commanders, including explicit e-mails among other things. This is a form of retaliation and a hostile work environment.

"The thought it was in my cup made me sick at my stomach and made me ill," Siri said.

Siri's lawsuit also states DFR did allocate $75,000 for sensitivity training two years ago as a result of the first sexual harassment lawsuit, but later spent the money on an embroidery machine among other things. Many times as part of a lawsuit settlement, a company is required to spend money on training to correct previous mistakes.

The former president of a major Green Bay manufacturing firm, Roderick Ganiard, claims he was wrongly terminated after confronting his boss - CEO and philanthropist Richard Resch - about how his repeated affairs with female staffers were hurting the company. Ganiard filed a lawsuit against Resch and office furniture-maker Krueger International, alleging at least five women have brought sexual harassment complaints against the company, and that Resch forced Ganiard out after he led the company to record sales--which is retaliation.

"Mr. Ganiard was an at-will employee who had a written contract," said George Burnett, attorney for Resch and KI. "He does not like the severance package he negotiated and now is alleging all sorts of garbage."

Burnett said the allegations of sexual harassment are false and were not part of Ganiard's original lawsuit filed in state court last year. The company last month had the case moved to federal court, where the defendants' motion to dismiss is pending.

According to court records, Ganiard alleges a woman in her early 20s said Resch, 70, constantly asked her out and offered to transfer her to working directly for him. Mark Olsen, a 30-year employee and chief financial officer, resigned after Resch flew into a rage when Olsen confronted him about the complaint. Resch pressured the company to hire a waitress he met. The woman was very open with other KI employees about the fact that she was dating Richard Resch and her relationship with him. One woman who had a long-term relationship with Resch was earning substantially less than her peers in the company. Ganiard said he learned Resch "compensated her off the books with a number of indiscrete benefits" - including a home, trips and college tuition for her children.

Jessica Hein, 23,alleges that her shift leader, Ryan Dennis, 26, made numerous unwanted sexual advances toward her, including unwanted and unsolicited touching, grabbing, groping and squeezing various parts of her body. Hein alleges that the Village discriminated against her based on her gender and subjected her to a hostile work environment as a result of the unwanted sexual harassment.

The lawsuit alleges five counts of sexual harassment, assault and battery, negligent hiring, negligent supervision and negligent retention and also claims the Village knew or should have known of the sexual harassment and failed to take appropriate corrective action which resulted in retaliation against Hein for complaining about the sexual harassment and for filing complaints with the Mason City Human Rights Commission.

Village Executive Director John Severtson said due to confidentiality issues he could not say if Hein and Dennis are still employed at the Village.

Hein is seeking damages for each count, including, compensation for past and future suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, punitive damages in an amount appropriate to punish the Village for willful and malicious conduct and to deter the Village from engaging in such misconduct in the future, compensation for all past and future medical and counseling expenses and attorney fees.

The Illinois Supreme Court held in Blount v. Stroud, 2009 WL 153862 (Ill Sup Ct. 2009) that the Illinois Human Rights Act ("Act") doesn't preclude employees who file a claim under the Human Rights Act from bringing other claims based on common law, or federal statutes in state court.

Background

Jerri Blount filed a multicount complaint in Cook County Circuit Court against her former employer Jovon Broadcasting Corporation and the owner and general manager. The two counts of interest to his analysis were her common law retaliatory discharge and retaliation under 42 USC Section 1981. The defendant filed a motion to dismiss claiming the Act precluded her from filing in the circuit court. The court rejected the motion to dismiss and she was ultimately awarded over $3 million dollars by a jury. The appellate court reversed holding the Act deprives Illinois Courts of subject matter jurisdiction. The Illinois Supreme Court heard the case and ruled that whether facts giving rise to a civil rights violation as defined under state law might also give rise to a civil rights violation under definitions found in federal statutes was not relevant and Blount had a right to pursue her claim under federal law in state circuit court.

Sexual Harassment at work goes unreported in almost 40% of the time. Approximately 61% of employees reported their sexual harassment to their superiors. According to LegalMatch.com statistics compiled within the last 5 years, the following jobs had the most reported sexual harassment cases:

Retail: 28%
Manufacturing: 16%
Government: 12%
Transportation: 9%
Professional (law, accounting, architecture, etc.): 9%
Education: 8%
Construction: 8%
High technology: 6%

With the downturn in the economy there has been a rise in the number of employment related claims including claims for sexual harassment. One reason is that an employee who may otherwise have looked the other way to keep her job, now finds herself unemployed due to mass layoffs and no longer has anything to lose by filing a claim for sexual harassment or other form of discrimination.

A hostile work environment exists when an employee experiences workplace harassment and fears going to work because of the offensive, intimidating, or oppressive atmosphere generated by the harasser based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, marital status, or personal appearance. Hostile work environment is also one of the two legal categories of sexual harassment.

The racial comments began on Gary Redd’s first day on the job in Kennesaw’s public works department and they never let up according to his lawsuit. Redd, a native of Korea, said he was called “wetback,” “rice-eater” and “slant-eye.” Two years later, in 2008, he couldn’t take the racial harassment any longer and quit--which is referred to as constructive discharge.

Willie Smith says he has endured racist behavior since he was hired by Kennesaw in 1995. In 1996, he complained about nooses hanging from two city trucks. He says racial slurs like the n-word was used regularly by bosses and co-workers, and a “White Only” sign was taped to a bathroom stall.

Before retiring, the head of the public works department, Woody McFarlin, posted a picture of the old Georgia flag with a slice of watermelon on it. The caption read: “Now, here’s a flag that will appeal to ALL Georgians!” Smith kept reporting the racist behavior. “I couldn’t ever get nothing resolved,” he said.

Smith, Redd and Stanley Mitchell, a 22-year public works employee, filed a racial discrimination and harassment lawsuit against Kennesaw on March 9, 2009.

“I felt like something had to be done to stop this, so it wouldn’t go on with future generations,” Redd said.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") is suing a southwestern Illinois Elks Lodge, alleging three board members sexually harassed three female bartenders. In its lawsuit (Case No. 3:09-cv-00200), filed in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois, the EEOC claims that Vicki Vickers, Elizabeth Stemm, and Jackie Davidson (formerly Jackie Atteberry at the time of her employment by defendant) were subjected to unlawful sexual harassment while working at Elks Lodge No. 954 by three members of the Elks’ board of trustees on numerous occasions in 2005 and 2006.

The abuse, which the EEOC said was perpetrated by trustees Joe Ritter, Allen Dunham and Dennis Prough, included repeated unwelcome sexual advances and touching, and sexually explicit comments. The lawsuit said that after victims complained about the conduct, their work hours were cut, they were assigned the least desirable shifts, and they were subjected to threats and other abusive verbal comments. Davidson was terminated and a hostile work environment ensued in which Vickers was compelled to resign.

“

Employers have an absolute duty to prevent their employees from becoming the object of sexual abuse by people who are in a position of authority,” said James R. Neely, Jr., district director of the EEOC's St. Louis District Office

Basic Energy Services, L.P. agreed to pay $250,000 and consented to substantial injunctive relief to settle a sex discrimination and retaliation suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), the agency announced today. The EEOC charged in its suit that the Midland, Texas-based company, a major oil well servicing contractor, had discriminated against a former field attendant because of her sex and then fired her because she complained about a discriminatory promotion denial and sexual harassment.

It is alleged that Basic Energy Services denied Tawnya Smith, who worked for the company as a field disposal attendant, a promotion to field supervisor in 2006 because of her gender. Further, the EEOC asserted, Smith also was subjected to months of sexual harassment by her immediate supervisor, Roger Caldwell. After Smith filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC and made an internal complaint about the sexual harassment, the suit said, the company terminated her in March 2007 in retaliation.

The EEOC’s suit was resolved by a consent decree, which was signed by Judge Tom Stagg on March 6, 2009 and entered into the record of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on March 6, 2009.

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Continue reading "Basic Energy Settles EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit For $250,000" »

N-W ventures, the owner of several restaurants in three states will pay $457,500 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The EEOC had charged that N-W Ventures, LLC in Las Vegas subjected a class of African American employees to discrimination, including racial harassment and retaliation. The EEOC alleges eight black employees and other similarly situated individuals were forced to endure racist epithets and insults on many occasions. When some employees complained, managers retaliated against them by instructing supervisors to “get something on them, whether true or not,” and then firing them because of their race and as retaliation for the complaints.

Besides paying $457,500 to the discrimination victims, N-M Ventures LLC is prohibited from discriminating based on race, and from retaliating against any employee because he or she opposed discrimination. Further, the company must establish an appropriate and effective mechanism for handling complaints of discrimination, and provide training for its managers and employees with respect to the law against racial discrimination and harassment and retaliation at its Las Vegas facility.

Continue reading "Restaurant Chain $457,500 to settle EEOC race discrimination lawsuit " »

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") reached a settlement for $110,000 with TJX Companies Inc. (nyse: TJX - news - people ), which does business as Marshalls, T.J. Maxx and other stores regarding a sexual harassment lawsuit against a Marshalls store in North Carolina. The lawsuit alleged a male supervisor at a Marshalls store in Jacksonville of subjecting at least two women to unwelcome sexual comments, gestures and touching and that company management knew or should have known and failed to take corrective action.

A Hostile Work Environment existed as a result of the failure by management to take action to stop the sexual harassment. Once management is on actual notice of the sexual harassment, they must take steps to immediately stop the harassment--and they didn't.

In a statement, the company said the settlement isn't an admission of guilt but rather a decision that "enables the company to move forward."

Luis Patino, former employee of Birken Manufacturing Co., who claims damages under Connecticut's employment antidiscrimination law because he was subjected to severe harassment during his employment, including the widespread use of antigay names and slurs in his workplace had his day in court. A jury found in favor of Patino on his hostile work environment claim, and awarded him non-economic damages of $94,500. Connecticut's employment antidiscrimination law is similar to the Illinois Human Rights Act which prohibits discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status (with regard to employment), age (40 and over), marital status, familial status (with regard to housing), arrest record, physical and mental disability, military status, sexual orientation and unfavorable discharge from military service.

However, Birken Manufacturing filed a motion to set aside that verdict, arguing that employers are not liable for antigay intimidation even though they are accountable for preventing other types of harassment in the workplace. Patino argues that what happened to him is employment discrimination and protected by the civil rights act of 1964.

Lambda filed a Legal's friend-of-the-court brief arguing that the verdict should stand because the state law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation protects workers against the kind of "hostile work environment" that Patino experienced.

Lambda Legal's brief urges the trial court to hold that Connecticut employers who permit a work environment that is hostile to gay and lesbian employees violate state antidiscrimination statutes, and seeks to ensure that the law is rigorously applied to ensure that employers understand their duty to protect gay employees - like other employees - from hostile workplaces.

Continue reading "Man Awarded $94,500 For Hostile Work Environment Claim" »

First Street Surgical Center, L.P. and First Surgical Partners, LLC agreed to pay $290,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The EEOC alleged that First Street Surgical Center, L.P. and First Surgical Partners, LLC subjected several female workers at their Bellaire, Texas, facility to a sexually hostile work environment and that First Street retaliated against women who complained about the unlawful conduct, which is retaliation.

According to the lawsuit a nurse who made a written complaint against the male supervisor was fired the following day and another woman was given a poor evaluation because she complained about the sexual harassment. Additionally, the male nurse made unwanted sexual advances and sexual jokes and innuendos to female colleagues and subordinates.

United Airlines settled a federal sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former pilot, Capt. Lisa Stout, who grounded herself after repeatedly finding pornography hidden in the cockpits of domestic airline flights. According to the lawsuit Stout found pornographic photos of women on more than 20 flights in 2004 and 2005 and that United's efforts to catch the perpetrators were inadequate and the company retaliated against her after she reported it.

The photos were mostly found in hidden spots, such as under a cap on a safety device known as a "stick shaker," or taped to the lid of the unused ashtray. Stout logged each instance in the flight log and had maintenance workers take the photos down. The photos created a hostile work environment for Stout.

United argued that Stout could not have been offended by the sexually explicit photos because she once worked in a retail store that sold pornographic magazines, she sometimes sketched nudes as an artist and she had attended art shows displaying photos of nude women. United also argued that Stout was motivated to claim a mental condition so she could get long-term disability payments to support her art career.

Judge Coughenour ruled in November that it would be "highly unlikely" that a jury wouldn't find that the pornography made for a hostile work environment — one of the findings necessary to prove a claim of sexual harassment.

Continue reading "United Airlines settles lawsuit over hidden porn found on flights" »

In Florda 111 female employees filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections, alleging they were subject to constant sexual harassment from male inmates. The women who are mostly nurses, said while they made their rounds, male inmates used graphic language and masturbated toward them. 'The conduct is so hostile, notorious and commonplace that it is referred to by prison staff and inmates alike as 'gunning,' '' according to the complaint.

The lawsuit alleges a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 of the 111 current and former employees and their' right to be free from sexual discrimination and harassment. The woman are alleging the creation of a hostile work environment.

Continue reading "Over 100 Female Prison Employees File Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

This case was reported in this blog on March 12, 2009 and now the verdict is in. Not guilty of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment. After deliberating less than a day, a San Luis Obispo County California jury found Niner winery owner not guilty of sexually harassing Tammi Herron, a former employee of his company. Tammi Herron 44, a part-time hand model and single mother of two, alleged her former boss, Dick Niner, had made unwanted sexual advances toward her while she was working as a sales representative for his Niner Wine Estates company in 2007.

The jury found neither party’s story about what happened to be completely credible, according to two jurors, Kelley Day, 39, of Arroyo Grande, and Bettina Evans, 52, of Shell Beach, who spoke to The Tribune after the verdict was read. Dick Niner claimed he never kissed or had any contact with Herron. Herron claimed they kissed and Dick Niner wanted more including a sexual relationship.

Day, who was the jury foreman, added, “There was a lot of debate on how much his advances were actually ‘unwanted.’ … No one had a whole lot of sympathy for her. We felt she worked the situation.

Continue reading "Jury finds Niner Winery owner not guilty of sexual harassment" »

Four night-shift servers, Paula Michelle Clark, Sandy McEwen, Ina Cowan and Tammy Walker who worked at the Waffle House were awarded a $45,000 judgment against parent company SouthEast Waffles, LLC, for alleged sexual harassment by a night cook. The women also alleged that management did not take their complaints seriously and did not stop the harassment. The complaint was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and alleged sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and retaliation.

A federal judge in the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy action ordered SouthEast Waffles to allow the discrimination claim filed on behalf of the women to continue despite the bankruptcy action by the company. Under terms of a three-year consent decree, SouthEast Waffles cannot subject women employees to sexual harassment, and it must undertake anti-discrimination training, as well as report to the EEOC any similar complaints during the agreed-upon consent period.

The four women claim cook and third-shift boss John Norman touched them inappropriately, made unwanted sexual advances and requests for sexual activity.

The EEOC filed a lawsuit against HD Supply alleging that a secretary suffered repeated sexual harassment , retaliation and gender discrimination including sexually explicit language, unwelcome sexual advances and inappropriate touching. The EEOC claims HD Supply retaliated against the woman for complaining about the sexual harassment, was aware of the sexual harassment, and failed to take adequate steps to stop or prevent the sexual harassment.

Sex-based harassment and retaliation violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming, after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement. The EEOC is seeking back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and an injunction enjoining HP Supply from engaging in further discrimination, harassment or retaliation.

"Employees should be able to enjoy a work environment free of sex-based harassment," said the regional attorney for the EEOC's Los Angeles District Office, Anna Park.

HD Supply is a leading nationwide wholesale supplier of building materials and has over 2,800 employees nationwide.

Joni Kane, the Vineland New Jersey School district's public information assistant, alleged she was placed in a hostile work environment, denied appropriate promotions and pay increases, and sexually harassed by John Sbrana and the school district.

According to the lawsuit, Kane joined the communications office in December 1997 as a part-time clerk after being interviewed by Sbrana. A month into Kane's employment, Sbrana began making sexual advances toward her and sent suggestive e-mails to her private account. Several times during 1998, Sbrana made excuses to show up at Kane's home after hours. Kane claims in retaliation for spurring Sbrana's advances she was told she would be working holidays, evenings and weekends without overtime.

Most board members object to how the sexual harassment case was handled from the moment it was first reported in 2006 through the subsequent legal investigation, according to the DailyJournal.com

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed a federal lawsuit against Elks Lodge No. 954 in Jerseyville, accusing the group of violating federal law by sexually harassing three female bartenders and then taking reprisals against them when they complained, also known as retaliation. The EEOC alleges Vicki Vickers, Elizabeth Stemm and Jackie Davidson were subjected to unlawful sexual harassment by three members of the Elks' board of trustees on numerous occasions while working at the lodge in 2005 and 2006.

The EEOC alleges Joe Ritter, Allen Dunham and Dennis Prough, had unwelcome sexual advances and touching, as well as sexually explicit comments directed at the three women. The lawsuit contends that after the victims complained about the conduct, their work hours were cut, they were assigned the least desirable shifts, and they were subjected to threats and other abusive verbal comments--retaliation. Davidson was terminated, and the environment became so hostile that Vickers was compelled to resign, the suit alleges.

"Employers have an absolute duty to prevent their employees from becoming the object of sexual abuse by people who are in a position of authority," said James R. Neely Jr., district director of the EEOC's St. Louis District Office

Winery owner Dick Niner testified at the sexual harassment trial that sexual advances from Tammi Herron a former employee alleging he sexually harassed her never happened. Pam Niner, Dick's wife also testified that Herron used her “feminine wiles” to advance in their Paso Robles-based company, and that Herron acted in a pandering manner toward her husband when she visited the couple at their Jackson Hole Wyoming home.

Herron’s lawsuit alleges that Pam Niner and Mike Musso, general manager for Niner Wine Estates, tried to force her out of her job when Pam Niner realized her husband had more than a professional interest in the employee. Herron only worked four months as a sales representative before resigning and filing her lawsuit. Herron claims Dick Niner told her he loved her while they were at the bar of the San Luis Obispo restaurant Koberl at Blue. She also alleged he tried to negotiate to see her more frequently, and then later kissed her with an open mouth twice in her car as she dropped him off at the Niner Wine Estate office.

“The events didn’t happen. … I’m loyal to my wife. I have been for 37 years,” Niner said.

Pam Niner said Herron was one of those women who too often use their feminine wiles to get jobs and advancement.

Herron claimed in her lawsuit that her work environment changed and became a hostile work environment after she stayed as a guest in the Niners’ Wyoming home. Dick Niner paid for her and her children’s round-trip flights, sponsored Herron’s daughter at a Wyoming summer camp and offered Herron a place to stay for a week.

A federal jury of seven men and two women awarded Dr. Sagun Tuli, a Brigham and Women's Hospital neurosurgeon, $1.6 million in her sex discrimination lawsuit against the hospital and against the chairman of her department, Dr. Arthur Day. According to the jury Tuli was subjected to a hostile work environment at the hospital where she has worked for more than six years and the hospital retaliated against her for complaining about the hostile work environment.

Tuli said Day continually made demeaning statements to her while she was operating, telling her during one surgery in May 2007,

"You are just a girl. Are you sure you can do that?''

The lawsuit was filed in December 2007 in Boston case number 2007cv12338.

Burger King Corp. will pay $85,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed on behalf of Kathleen Joyner a North Carolina woman who was harassed by her general manager, accoding to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). According to the lawsuit Joyner complained to her assistant managers, who failed to take action. The lawsuit was filed under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The settlement with the EEOC requires Burger King to review their anti-sexual harassment policy with all new employees and provide anti-harassment training to all managers and shift coordinators at the Clemmons restaurant and at the Winston-Salem Burger King where Joyner's general manager was transferred.

Continue reading "Burger King Avoids The Whopper and Only Pays $85,000 To Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

Ann Marie Spagnola, a former secretary in the Morristown mayor's office settled a federal sexual harassment lawsuit for nearly $1 million. Spagnola filed suit in 2005, alleging she was subjected to a hostile work environment by being exposed to sexually explicit materials on office computers.

Spagnola, in a lawsuit filed in 2005, charged she encountered several sexually inappropriate situations that violated her civil rights, causing her to suffer depression, emotional distress and humiliation. In exchange for the payment,
But Spagnola's attorney, Lisa Manshel of Millburn, said Monday

"that the case sends a message that employers have an obligation to control employees' use of computers"

The settlement included no admission of guilt. Spagnola agreed to withdraw claims against former Mayor Jay Delaney, former administrator Eric Maurer and former assistant counsel Michael Rich. Delaney has questioned the merits of the case.

Continue reading "Secretary Settles Sexual Harassment Case for Almost $1 Million" »

Brenda Keys, a Florida attorney filed a complaint against the State Attorney’s Office for the 14th Judicial Circuit, on allegations of sexual harassment, hostile work environment sexual harrassment, and retaliation. These allegations regard specific incidents between Keys and former State Attorney, Steve Meadows. Keys claims that Meadows demoted her and cut her bonus in half once he learned she was helping other co-workers file sexual harassment complaints against him. According to the report, Meadows says Keys’ work was poor. However the Florida Human Relations Commission findings claim that a recent review rated Keys as stellar.

One of the findings relating to hostile work environment sexual harassment includes allegations of Meadows having sex with an employee in his private office. The commission says Meadows had no credible evidence to refute these allegations. Steve Meadows told News 13 he and the woman involved in this situation dated for a brief period in 2005, it was a consensual relationship with a history of more than 10 years and that she has not filed any complaints.

Stephanie Chiafos, a former employee of St. Paul restaurant supplier Restaurant Depot has accused two of her former supervisors of sexual harassment in an eleven page lawsuit filed in federal court. The lawsuit alleges that when one supervisor, John Ruhulessin was fired after having a number of complaints made against him by female employees, the man who temporarily replaced him , Tommie Brown continued the sexual harassment. Chiafos alleges the replacement supervisor even sexually assaulted her while on the job.

According to the lawsuit, the company did not take the accusations being made against the first supervisor serious until Chiafos hired an attorney. The lawsuit was filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Minnesota Human Rights Act and based on negligent supervision and retention. The Minnesota Human Rights Act is analogous to the Illinois Human Rights Act.

The lawsuit alleges that Brown put his hand down the front of Chiafos's shirt, touched her breasts, and made propositions for oral sex. In fact, according to the lawsuit, on the day Brown fired Ruhulessin for his inappropriate sexual comments, Brown told Chiafos

"blow him for lunch" because he had a bad headache from having to fire Ruhulessin.

A complete copy of the lawsuit is available by clicking on 09-cv-00499

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against Restaurant Depot" »

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois against Henry County, Ill., alleging that former employee Michelle Baze was sexually harassed by her supervisor Jack Anderson, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The complaint alleges that Baze's former supervisor in the Henry County Animal Control Department subjected her to sexual harassment, including unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature and inappropriate sexual comments, during the course of her employment as a secretary. Baze further alleges that Henry County had been aware that the same supervisor had sexually harassed Baze's predecessor, but failed to take action to prevent him from harassing Baze.

Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion. Baze alleges the creation of a hostile work environment as a result of the harassment.

"Title VII ensures that women can participate in the workplace free of harassment based on sex,"

Continue reading "Henry County Animal Control Department Sued For Sexual Harassment" »

Two months after Costco was ordered to pay $420,000 to Juan I. Valera, a gay and HIV-positive employee who was subjected to a hostile work environment, the man sued Cosco again Tuesday, claiming Costco failed to reinstate him as a photo manager which is an act of retaliation because of the jury award and because of his sexual orientation.

On Dec. 3, a jury found that Valera endured a hostile work environment at the Inglewood warehouse and awarded him $420,000 plus $471,240 in attorneys' fees, and another $39,540 in costs. The case started when a new general manager, John Weaver, arrived at Cosco in 2005 and casually used the word "queers" in a statement. Valera took a leave of absence because of the stress, and when he returned asked the assistant general manager to protect him from further insensitive remarks. Instead his work load was doubled and his pay was cut.

Valera was forced to take a second continued stress leave and was demoted to cashier. He was later stripped of his benefits and left with no health insurance. At one point other employees made a video making fun of Valera.

The tape begins with one employee stating to another employee, Carlos Taylor:

"Carlos, I have a dilemma; next Friday is my Auntie Juan's bar mitzvah. He is a transsexual."

An unidentified woman in a recent lawsuit said a Las Vegas' Robertson High School computer technician requested sexual favors and the school district didn't do anything about it. Superintendent of schools Richard Romero said the former superintendent Pete Campos who is named in the lawsuit investigated the matter and the technician, Pete Garcia, was disciplined. The sexual harassment lawsuit also alleges Garcia drove the bus for the softball team and leered at girls while they were changing. Garcia still works for the school district.

This school district was the subject of a few other incidents of sexual harassment within the last year. After a summer football camp, six students were accused of sexually assaulting younger teammates. Not long after that two school employees were accused of separate sexual harassment incidents according to KOAT.com. In the most current lawsuit, the former educational assistant quit after being subjected to the sexual harassment and after the school did not stop it. This is called constructive discharge.

"All I can do is sit down with him and say you've been warned and if it happens again, you'll be terminated and we've had that conversation,” Romero said.

That response from Romero does not seem adequate enough for the woman who filed her sexual harassment claim. In Illinois sexual harassment at an educational institution, also known as school sexual harassment is Illegal. The educational institution is required to stop the sexual harassment when it becomes aware of the sexual harassment.

Clay County has agreed to pay $208,000 to an employee, Michele Stryker to settle a sexual-harassment lawsuit that named Assessor Cathy Rinehart and a former worker as defendants. In the lawsuit Stryker alleged that Rinehart repeatedly allowed Steve Sutterfield, then an employee, to make sexually suggestive and offensive comments in front of her and other female employees, constituting sexual harassment.The lawsuit also claims Stryker and other women in the office experienced gender discrimination in their compensation, travel arrangements and benefits.

In recent weeks, the county settled a fourth sexual harassment lawsuit for $90,000 involving Rinehart. In that lawsuit, Debbie Burr of Kansas City maintained that there was hostile work environment in the assessor’s office during 2003-2004.

Maya Wicks-Perez, a transgendered woman filed a lawsuit against Burlington Coat Factory’s San Francisco’s branch alleging sexual harassment and discrimination. Wicks-Perez informed the store that she was going to transition back in 2001 and alleges that one of her supervisors had no issue with her transition, but that the senior management told her that it was wrong. That management fostered an atmosphere that was openly hostile and created a hostile work environment.

Wicks-Perez alleges that she was subjected to graphic sexual conversations, co-workers grabbing her body and claims one of her supervisors handed her pornography. Management ignored her complaints and stood passively by while these actions took place according to the complaint.

"It seemed as if their attitude was that it was okay for me to be treated that way because I am a transgender person" Wicks-Perez said

A 2006 study into the issue of transgender discrimination found that roughly a quarter of transpeople have been the victim of sexual harassment, and over half have been victims of other forms of discrimination.

Update from a story appearing in this Blog on February 3. San Diego firefighters John Ghiotto, Chad Allison, Jason Hewitt and Alexander Kane who were ordered by their supervisor to appear in the city's 2007 homosexual "Pride Parade" were awarded $34,000 total for emotional damages from the event, where they were sexually harassed.

The men were sexually harassed through lewd cat calls and obscene gestures at the event, which was replete with sexual displays and graphic images. After complaining to superiors the men suffered from retaliation. In once instance the men were told if they did not march in the parade they would be disciplined according to the World Net Daily.

According to the men,

"While moving down the parade route we were subjected to verbal abuse, (show me your hose, you can put out my fire, give me mouth to mouth, flick you fireman) sexual gestures, (showing their penis, blowing kisses, grabbing their crotch, rubbing their nipples, tongue gestures, flipping us off)."

Continue reading "Update: Firefighters Awarded $34,000 In Sexual Harassment Case" »

Murphy Ford Inc, a car dealership located in Chester, Pennsylvania, will pay $244,000 to settle a Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII") sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit, filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The EEOC alleges that Murphy Ford sexually harassed three female employees and fired one woman for complaining about the unlawful harassment--which constituted retaliation.

According to the lawsuit which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the dealership's service manager sexually harassed Cynthia Bell and other female employees in the service department which included sexually explicit comments, references to oral sex and grabbing his private parts in their presence. Bell repeatedly made complaints to the owner and dealership management, however, Murphy Ford did nothing to stop the harassment and retaliated against Bell by suddenly firing her.

According to Debra Lawrence according regional EEOC attorney:

"This case should remind employers that they have an obligation to take prompt and effective measures to stop harassment in the workplace. If the employer instead does the wrong thing and terminates an employee who complains about harassment, then the EEOC will take action."

Continue reading "Car Dealership Pays $244,000 to Settle EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit" »

The City of Concord, located in Silicon Valley, California settled a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by two former female police officers, who alleged they were discriminated against by male police officers. As part of the settlement the city agreed to pay Denise Dale $250,000 in damages, plus $50,000 in workers' compensation. The second woman, Kristyn Thurmond, will not receive any money under the terms of the settlement.

The sexual harassment lawsuit filed in Contra Costa Superior Court alleged that Dale and Thurmond suffered severe and continuous gender-based harassment and encountered a work environment rife with hostility toward female police officers and that they suffered retaliation for reporting the alleged conduct to superiors. Dale and Thurmond quit their jobs at the Concord Police Department as a result of the harassment and retaliation. They both allege in their lawsuit that higher-ranking officers including Brentwood City Councilman Brandon Richey had sexually explicit conversations in front of them, passed them over for choice assignments with the police department and punished them based solely on their gender.

Thurmond said she was accused of being a coward and was told that she was a poor officer.

Thurmond began working for the police department in 2001 and alleges that a Concord officer took an "inordinate and unwelcome personal and romantic interest" in her in 2002, when he was her field training officer, according to the Mercury News. Thurmond moved to a different squad in 2005, and left the police department in 2007.

Continue reading "Silicon Valley City Settles Sexual Harassment Case for $300,000" »

Tom Sobocinski a UPS worker since 1986 filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against his supervisor Russell Ford. In his lawsuit, Mr. Sobocinski alleges Mr. Ford engaged in a long pattern of sexual harassment and sexual abuse at the UPS warehouse, and that the misconduct was condoned by Ford's manager, Ronald Draper who was present when Mr. Ford used sexually inappropriate language.

“UPS sends out these policies of zero tolerance of sexual harassment, but it apparently doesn’t apply to everyone,” Mr. Sobocinski said. “If I or any Teamster said what he said, we’d be fired and escorted out of the building.”

According to the lawsuit Mr. Ford repeatedly made sexually inappropriate comments to Sobocinsky and other employees throughout 2004 including when Mr. Ford complimented Mr. Sobocinski’s posterior and crudely proposed a related sexual act, Mr. Sobocinski said. Another time, Mr. Ford rubbed a piece of paper against his posterior and threw it at Mr. Sobocinski, he said. He said his supervisor has repeatedly made sexually suggestive comments to both men and women, has called male employees “faggots” and regularly touched people in a sexual manner according to the Worcester Telegram.

According to Sobocinski, since filing the lawsuit, he’s been retaliated against by UPS. As an example Sobocinski claims when he takes his wife to doctor appointments, he use to be able to take two or three hours off from work, now UPS makes him use an entire day for the same appointment.

Continue reading "UPS Worker Claims Male Supervisor Sexually Harassed Him" »

A female shipyard worker’s allegations of sexual harassment against a supervisor following a single, unwanted encounter did not justify the New Orleans woman’s lawsuit against her employer, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems according to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals upheld U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance, who on April 3 dismissed the female worker’s claim that Northrop Grumman allowed a “hostile work environment.

The female shipyard worker alleged that Barattini “walked up to her until his chest was touching hers, thus ‘chesting up’ to her breasts in a 30-second confrontation,” according to the appellate record. The woman attempted to walk away, toward a narrow passageway of the ship, but the foreman allegedly followed her and the female immediately reported the incident to her supervisor. According to the lawsuit the woman alleged that:

“He forced his way through the door ahead of her, and, in doing so, placed his hand on her stomach and ran his arm around her waist,” the record states. “As he squeezed passed her in the passageway, he allegedly ‘rubbed his pelvic region across her hips and buttocks.’ ”

In 2007, the woman filed suit against Northrop under Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, alleging sexual harassment, and seeking lost wages due to disability, continuing emotional distress and other claims. According to the Advocate, the lawsuit stemmed from a single, 90-second encounter on May 10, 2006.

Gidget Mock, who worked as a lab technician in the Northampton county's drunken-driving center settled her sexual harassment lawsuit with the county for almost $80,000, with $39,000 to her and $38,500 to her attorneys. In the lawsuit she alleged several incidents of harassment occurred between 2003 and 2005, including comments about her clothing and groping. This is a form of retaliation, although not the traditional workplace retaliation where a person gets a negative job action for reporting sexual harassment.

Mock alleges in her lawsuit that she was evicted from her home in November 2003 and sheriff's deputies were called to remove her belongings from the property.

While they ransacked Mock's closets and drawers, they reportedly made comments about her lingerie, such as, "Gidget, we never knew you wore thong underwear" and "nice teddies."

As part of the settlement of the sexual harassment lawsuit, Mock agreed to resign and the county does not admit any liability and Mock relinquishes her right to ask for reinstatement to her job. According to lehighvalleynews.com, Mock had no comment about the settlement and County Executive John Stoffa said "I'm happy that it's settled. It's unfortunate it had to get to this point," Stoffa said. "I just wanted to get it off our books."

Lorraine Fitzpatrick an employee in the Islip Town Clerk's office has filed a sexual harassment complaint against Town Clerk Regina Duffy alleging that Duffy touched and kissed her, then penalized her when she objected. In a court document dated Dec. 19, 2008 Fitzpatrick said that Duffy had sexually harassed her with "unwelcome sexual touching, kissing, and rubbing." Additionally Duffy retaliated with "poor performance evaluations, suspensions without pay, the taking away of vacation time and salary, increased supervision and a demotion of position responsibilities."

A second employee, Diane Colletti, filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), alleging that Duffy, 60 has been pushing out older female employees, according to Colletti's attorney, Eden Mauro of Syosset. This would be a form of age discrimination.

A jury in Simi Valley initially awarded James Stevens $18.4 million in compensatory and punitive damages in a sexual harassment lawsuit in October 2006. But the presiding judge later reduced the damages to $2.4 million. The award was appealed and the California Second District Court of Appeal upheld a jury’s reduced $2.4 million award plus $750,000 in attorney fees to Stevens in the sexual harassment case against the Vons supermarket chain.

Stevens worked for the supermarket chain for 25 years, including 15 years as an inventory clerk, where he proved that a female manager sexually harassed him on numerous occasions. Stevens complained to the company about the sexual harassment, but instead of taking action against the management employee, Vons fired him, which resulted in Stevens filing the sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit. Stevens was represented by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred.

Stevens testified he was subjected to daily sexual harassment by the manager. In addition to making sexual remarks, she once simulated sex with a feather duster.

Continue reading "$2.4 Million Sexual Harassment Award Upheld on Appeal" »

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services agreed to pay an Oxford woman $320,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. Dorothy Hawley filed a lawsuit against supervisor James Hobgood at John Umstead Hospital. Hobgood had a prior history of mistreating female workers including a conviction for assaulting Hawley and another female employee in October 2000. In Illinois, if an employer retains an employee with a history of sexually harassing women and exposes women to that person, the employer would have created a hostile work environment a new round of sexual harassment takes place.

According to court documents the evidence showed that Hobgood had been fired from another state facility 22 years earlier. In that case, Hobgood was disciplined for sexual harassment after complaints from female staffers about his behavior. His behavior in that case was so outrageous that his personnel file stated he should not be hired again by the state.

According to the News & Observer Hawley had won $433,000 in damages from the N.C. Industrial Commission, but the state appealed the award. Mediation resulted in the $320,000 settlement. In Illinois mediation is available once a claim is filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights or with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Continue reading "Prior Record Of Supervisor Used As Leverage to Settle Sexual Harassment Case for $325,000" »

Heather Bickel, 37 who worked as a housekeeper at Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, alleges former housekeeping supervisor Milton Cordova assaulted her. Bickel is alleging at least $25,000 in damages in a sexual harassment lawsuit. Bickel is the second woman in two months to file a lawsuit against the resort because of sexual harassment. Former housekeeper Amanda McAllister filed a lawsuit in November, alleging Cordova forcibly groped her as she cleaned a room in September. McAllister's lawsuit also accuses the resort of doing nothing after complaints, a lack of action that allegedly put other housekeepers at risk

According to Bickel's lawsuit she complained to her supervisors and the resort's human resources department after the sexual harassment, but they wouldn't fire him. She claims they took no action and continued to put her at risk. Bickel claims the resort broke its promise of zero tolerance of sexual harassment by refusing to take action after the assault. Bickel also alleges the resort let other workers know she complained about the sexual harassment, which caused her to be subjected to derogatory comments from other employees-thus creating a hostile work environment.

In Illinois a hostile work environment exists when an employee experiences workplace harassment and fears going to work because of the offensive, intimidating, or oppressive atmosphere generated by the harasser based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, and sexual orientation.

Continue reading "Grand Traverse Resort & Spa Sued For Sexual Harassment" »

New Tennessee House Speaker Kent Williams denies sexually harassing Representative Susan Lynn. According to the Nashville Tennessean, Speaker Williams had two encounters with Rep. Lynn last year, including one on March 27 in which he allegedly told her she was beautiful and said he would give a week's pay to see her naked. The second incident occured just over a week later in which he allegedly came up behind her, put his arm tightly around her and embraced her, while telling her to have a nice weekend. This type of behavior also creates a hostile work environment.
Rep. Lynn said she was scared that this behavior pattern would repeat itself as she once against felt sexually harassed by the Speaker. According to the Chattanooga Times, “I have never sexually harassed anyone nor have I been reprimanded for any such behavior,” Rep. Williams said in a statement. “Right now my focus continues to be on moving this state forward and getting to the business of governing.”

Another Representative made an accusation against the Speaker the same year. Rep. Maggart said she got in her car and Williams leaned in the window and told her how beautiful she was and “that he appeared to be staring at her breasts,” according to the memo, which has no timestamp on it to verify when it was drafted. The memo was part of an internal investigation of the sexual harassment claims.

Continue reading "House Speaker Accused of Sexual Harassment of State Representative" »

A Illinois Sexual Harassment lawsuit was filed by Jill Sandmire the personal assistant to Emilio Ferrari who is the producer of the film Baby on Board, starring Heather Graham, John Corbett, Jerry O'Connell and Lara Flynn Boyle. According to the lawsuit, Ferrari repeatedly slapped her buttocks, groped her, asked her to massage his shoulders and back and told her she would look really hot if she got breast implants. Sandmire also said Ferrari asked her if she and other employees were at a strip club to obtain a stripper's phone number and asked her to buy condoms.

According to the sexual harassment lawsuit Sandmire claims she repeatedly told Ferrari to stop and that when she asked a production coordinator to transfer her to another department, Ferrari prevented it--thus creating a hostile work environment. Sandmire was fired shortly after and believes it is the result of retaliation for reporting the sexual harassment and for refusing to accept the advances of Ferrari.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against Film Producer in Chicago" »

The Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") act that bans sexual-orientation and gender-identity discrimination went into effect three years ago and here is an update on the act. According to the Director of IDHR Rocco Claps, a snapshot of fiscal year ‘09 ( from July ‘08 to today ) , shows there have been 89 sexual-orientation charges and, of those, 11 are related to gender identity, 2 based on bisexual, 67 on homosexualality, 2 on heterosexuality and 3 based on perceived orientation.

In Illinois, the IDHR investigates charges of sexual harassment, as well as sexual-orientation. Known as Public Act 093-1078 the new act makes it is unlawful in Illinois to discrimination on the basis of sex, age, race, gender, sexual harassment, sexual orientation, and religion. The other basis of discrimination besides employment include real-estate transactions; public accommodations; sexual harassment in higher education; and financial credit.

Continue reading "Illinois Human Rights Act Amendment That Bans Sexual-Orientation and Gender-Identity Discrimination: Three Years Later" »

A sexual harassment lawsuit was filed by four women for a total of $8 million, claiming the office has a culture of sexual harassment in which even ranking officers engage in physical and verbal harassment. Fulton Sheriff Myron Freeman, the Fulton County Georgia Sheriff’s Office and others are named in the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims the women were subjected to actual touching, lewdness and forced inappropriate contact, all items that would constitute a hostile work environment.

In the sexual harassment lawsuit one of the women, a former executive secretary, alleges she tolerated off-color jokes during the three years she worked for the sheriff until a lieutenant made an obscene reference about her performing a sexual act. The lawsuit alleges that most of the harassment took place inside Fulton County’s jail. The former secretary said "working at the Sheriff’s Office is like Sodom and Gomorrah."

In Illinois a new law that went into affect last year allows for also filing a claim of sexual harassment in state court after first filing with the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against Sheriffs Office Seeking $8 Million" »

A sexual harassment lawsuit was filed by Lindsey Yeager against the University of Pittsburg Medical Center ("UPMC Horizon") claiming gender bias, sexual harassment, wrongful termination and retaliation. Yeager was a nurse when an unnamed doctor pressured her to date him in and then to have sex with him. Yeager agreed to have sex because the doctor said her career would suffer if she didn’t, she alleges.

Yeager said she complained about the sexual harassment to her supervisors and tried to break off the relationship, but the doctor assaulted her. She claims the sexual harassment not only continued but got worse and the doctor had her supervisor issue written reprimands and criticize her without justification-which is retaliation. Yeager was fired six months after she claims she began to have sex with the doctor.

UPMC said the relationship with the doctor was consensual, and it was the doctor who tried to end the relationship. UPMC also claims Yeager falsely claimed to be working when in fact she was attending classes in Pittsburg and that she never reported sexual harassment allegations until her job performance was being negatively evaluated.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against The University of Pittsburg Medical Center" »

A sexual harassment lawsuit was filed by Crystal Neely, a former employee of McDonald’s alleging the fast-food giant allowed the sexual harassment to occur while she was working as a cashier at the restaurant on Southwest Lost River Road in Stuart Florida. Neely claimed she was hired as a cashier by McDonalds in February 2008 but soon after was subjected to sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior from a co-worker. She claims the co-worker grabbed her breasts, tried to kiss her and told her he loved her, according to the lawsuit.

Neely complained about the sexual harassment to management but no action was taken to protect her, she alleges. As a result of her complaint to management a hostile work environment continued to exist until she was terminated in May--which she claims was retaliation for filing the complaint.

Prior to terminating Neely, she was moved to a different McDonald's--and the move hasn't been fully explained. Neely claims the move was the first step in the retaliation process with the final step being her termination.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against Illinois Based McDonalds USA LLC" »

A sexual harassment lawsuit by former Robert Frost School Principal Deborah Nuzzi was dismissed by a federal judge in Illinois but Nuzzi plans to file an appeal that would keep her sexual harassment lawsuit against Bourbonnais Elementary School District 53 alive. Nuzzi claims school board member Rob Rodewald sexually harassed her and, after she complained of the sexual harassment, the school district retaliated against her.

Illinois U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. McCuskey said the sexual harassment allegations nearly violated court rules, "border on the sanctionable" and declared the retaliation claim "entirely without merit." The lawsuit alleges Rodewald touched Nuzzi on the shoulder on one occasion, then followed her into a hallway to ask "Deb, how are we doing, you and me? Are we OK?

The lawsuit also alleges a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in that the school district paid Nuzzi a lower salary than they paid her male counterparts. Nuzzi contends she was damaged in that she suffered humilation, stress, embarassment and lost wages among other forms of compensatory damages.

Continue reading "Illinois Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed by School Principal" »

A sexual harassment lawsuit was filed in federal court against Luna Community College former President Leroy Sanchez alleging he touched Charlene Ortiz-Cordova the former academic advisor, made unwanted sexual gestures, and made inappropriate comments to her over several months. The lawsuit also alleges that Luna failed or refused to take appropriate action to prevent and correct the sexual harassment.

The lawsuit is being filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which protects women from discrimination in employment. The lawsuit also alleges the harassment resulted in a hostile work environment for Ortiz-Cordova. Under the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 1981a., statutory caps on damages are imposed for both compensatory and punitive damages. The combined damage caps are based on the number of employees an employer has working for it. For employers who have in excess of 500 workers $300,000 is the statutory cap.

According to the lawsuit Ortiz-Cordova complained repeatedly about the unwanted harassment to her immediate supervisors but only after a year passed did one of them alert the college’s human-resources department of her complaints. Mr. Sanchez was told to avoid contacting Ms. Ortiz-Cordova, the suit alleges, but he was never disciplined and nothing further was done about the matter

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against Former College President" »

A sexual harassment, retaliation and hostile work environment complaint was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision ("EEOC") and Texas Workforce Commission ("TWC") against Bill Fitzgerald the boss of Michelle Garza, a probation officer. The Illinois Department of Human Rights serves the same function as the TWC.

Prior to filing her sexual harassment complaint, Garza had been with the probation department for nearly 20 years. In her sexual harassment complaint she claims to be an excellent employee but was recently written up for official misconduct. In her write-up she's accused of speaking too loudly on the phone with her ex-husband and she believes the write-up was done in retaliation for filing complaints of sexual discrimination.

According to the complaint while a group of co-workers were out at a local restaurant,Chris Madrid's, Fitzgerald commented on Garza's open toe sandals, began rubbing her feet and made inappropriate comments like "you know what I like even better than breasts? Feet." He also allegedly said that short pretty hispanic women like Garza turn him on. Garza claims the comments and actions of Fitzgerald left her in fear and stressed out. This is the basis for her hostile work environment claim.

Garza is seeking $200,000 in damages and continues to work as a probation officer although she is close to meeting the requirements for retirement.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Accusation Against Top Law Enforcement Official" »

A sexual harassment issue may soon be decided by the United States Supreme Court in Dawn V. Martin v. Howard University, et al., and the decision, if the Court decides to hear the case, will have serious implications for sexual harassment cases in Illinois. The specific issue raised is whether someone can make a sexual harassment claim against the employer under federal-worker protections if the harasser is not an employee. In this particular case an attorney Dawn Martin was stalked by a homeless man while she was working as a law professor at Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Martin brought the sexual harassment issues to the attention of school officals and less than a month after she first reported the stalking her teaching contract was not renewed--which Martin claims was retaliation. Martin sued the university in federal court for failure to prevent sexual harassment, hostile work environment and wrongful termination. A federal jury concluded in April 2006 that Harrison's (the homeless man) actions created a "hostile work environment" and that the university failed to take adequate actions to end the workplace harassment. However the jury returned a verdict in favor of the university on the basis that the case did not qualify as sexual harassment, which would have prohibited the employer from retaliating against the employee for reporting the event.

The case appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia which declined to question the jury's conclusion stating " the jury reasonably may have concluded that Harrison's stalking was attributable to his misidentification of Ms. Martin as his wife, not bad behavior based on Ms. Martin's gender." Ms. Martin will now ask to have her case heard by the United States Supreme Court.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Issue Asked To Be Decided By Supreme Court" »

Sexual Harassment allegations were made by Sabrina Morris, the head of the Georgetown South Carolina's Building and Planning Department, against Mayor Wilson. Morris claims the mayor told her to perform a pole dance on the top of a new bar Beef O'Brady's that was being opened in town. Morris also claims Wilson touched her inappropriately which would also constitute sexual harassment.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following. The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex. The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee. The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct. Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim. The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome. In determining whether harassment is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a hostile environment, the harasser's conduct should be evaluated from the objective standpoint of a "reasonable person

In Fiscal Year 2007, EEOC received 12,510 charges of sexual harassment and payouts totaled almost $50 million to employees who were victims of sexual harassment.

Gender discrimination and a hostile work environment were alleged by Sgt. Valerie Scharfe who claims inequitable treatment as Hasting Minnesota's first female police officer. Scharfe will receive $105,000 and her attorney $25,000 after reaching a settlement with the city over alleged workplace harassment involving sexual harassment.

Although a sexual harassment lawsuit was never filed by Scharfe, the city wished to settle the case to avoid the risk of a long drawn out legal battle which could cost the city a large amount in legal fees, the potential for a large verdict against it and the bad publicity a lawsuit may bring. Both parties utilized mediation to help reach the settlement.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission "EEOC" the advantages of mediation are:
Fair and Neutral
Parties not the mediator have an equal say in the process and decide settlement terms. Saves Time and Money
Mediation occurs early in the process so legal fees are minimal.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Of Female Police Officer Settled for $105,000." »

A sexual harassment lawsuit was filed against American Apparel and its CEO Dov Charney by Mary Nelson who is one of three women who filed the sexual harassment lawsuit. In a recent deposition Charney claims he frequently drops his pants to show people his new product.

Nelson and the two other women claim the boss shocked and disgusted them with dirty talk and gestures, creating a hostile work environment. Nelson claims that in over a year and a half her boss made her work life miserable with unwelcome sexual comments and suggestive signals. She also claims retaliation as she was dismissed after she complained about the offensive conduct.

In his depostion Charney claims he called women sluts at work and that for months at a time he would have just underwear on while at work. At one point Charney even posted a video of himself in underwear on the company website but has since taken it down. Charney also claims that workers can have sex at work at long as they pick a private place where no one can see them. Former employees claim Charney was constantly talking about sex, talking about his own genitalia, talking about other people’s genitalia.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against American Apparel" »

A sexual harassment and discrimination suit filed by a former city employee Cynthia Rogers against the City of Elizabethtown and Mayor David Willmoth may be dismissed by a Judge in the U.S. District Court in Louisville. She claims that former Public Works Superintendent Bill Owen sexually harassed her from 2003 to 2004 and sexually discriminated against her from 2003 to 2007.

In the sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit Rogers claims her supervisor acted under color of state law, deliberately and consciously engaged in adverse actions and retaliation against her which caused her to suffer injury that would likely chill a person of ordinary firmness from continuing to report other acts of sexual harassment or retaliation. She also claims the mayor’s actions violated her constitutional rights to freedom of speech, according to The News-Enterprise.

The city and mayor filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit claiming Rogers was terminated for excessive absenteeism, which included using 900.25 hours of leave time between 2005 and 2007, frequently being late, and failing to appear without telling a supervisor. The city also claims that Rogers was wearing a City of Elizabethtown shirt, was intoxicated in a local restaurant at lunchtime and was warned about the incident and absenteeism.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Lawsuit Against Mayor May Be Dismissed" »

A sexual harassment and discriminatory promotion lawsuit alleging $15 million in damages was filed against former Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland and the Warren County Sheriff’s Department by two veteran female correctional officers, Michelle LeBarron and Cynthia VanDenburgh. The complaint alleges they were discriminated against due to their sex and that they were subjected to sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct by Sheriff Cleveland and the county.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Albany last May after first filing a complaint under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state, and local governments. Title VII also applies to private and public colleges and universities, employment agencies, and labor organizations.

Here are United States Supreme Court cases that provide more information about Title VII.

Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
In a race discrimination case, the Supreme Court used “disparate impact” theory to analyze employment discrimination under Title VII.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against Warren County Sheriffs Department" »

A sexual Harassment lawsuit filed by female firefighter Stacy Conaway who claims she was sexually harassed by former Assistant Chief John Wagner and that department officials retaliated when the harassment was reported settled for $150,000.

Conaway also claims retaliation as a result of the reporting of the sexual harassment. Retaliation occurs when an adverse action is taken to try to keep someone from opposing a discriminatory practice, or from participating in an employment discrimination proceeding. The day after Wagner’s resignation, Conaway found a dent that looked like it was caused by a firefighters boot in her Chevrolet Tahoe that was parked in the Fire Department’s lot. Soon after reporting the harassment she received less-desirable job assignments--such as being moved from a firefighting position to administrative staff. This is a form of retaliation.

Soon after Conaway began work, she said that Wagner gave her unwanted gifts, including a negligee, a vibrator and an X-rated movie which she threw away. After not first reporting the incident two department captains told Conaway that she should report Wagner’s behavior, but Conaway said she was reluctant to do so because of possible negative consequences.

Then Wagner compared her breasts to the breasts of a woman taking the department’s physical agility test, and said the applicant must have used Conaway’s doctor--Conaway had breast augmentation surgery, and Wagner was aware of it. Conaway’s supervisor became aware of Wagner’s comments and reported them to city officials.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit By Female Firefighter Settled for $150,000" »

A sexual harassment and retaliation claim was filed by Deputy Tax Collector Jacquelynne Williams against the city of Holyoke Massachusetts, claiming she was terminated in retaliation for filing a sexual harassment accusation against Tax Collector Robert F. Kane. The retaliation claim was filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, which is analogous to the Illinois Department of Human Rights, where a Illinois Sexual Harassment lawyer would file a similar claim in Illinois.

According to the sexual harassment and retaliation claims Ms. Williams and two other women were sexually harassed but it was Ms. Williams who was the one terminated not her harassor Robert Kane. In Massachusettes as in Illinois many times when a woman files a sexual harassment complaint or complains about sexual harassment she is retaliated against and ultimately her employment is terminated.

According to the newspaper the Republican in her complaint Ms. Williams claimed that Mr. Kane sent her sexually harassing e-mails and made sexual or demeaning verbal comments to her on several occasions in 2006 and 2007 which included demeaning remarks about co-workers, sexually suggestive e-mails, verbal descriptions of suggestive dreams, and comments about other employees.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against Massachusetts Tax Collector" »

A sexual harassment lawsuit was filed by firefighter Paulette Rork, 38, of Englewood in the Lee County Flordia Court system alleging the “intentional infliction of emotional distress and sexual harassment.” In Illinois attorneys can file sexual harassment lawsuits for similar actions.

Rork was employed by the Boca Grande Fire Department from 2000 until being “constructively discharged” in September of 2007. He first filed a claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") that was dismissed in February. The file was closed because the commission was unable to conclude that the information obtained establishes violations of the statutes. In Illinois just as in other states, the dismissal of a charge by the EEOC does not mean the case is necessarily over.

Rork is seeking $15,000 in lost wages, insurance and attorney’s fees as well as money for unspecified damages, gender discrimination and sexual harassment.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed by Firefighter" »

A former Ambassador East Hotel worker Juana Sallis ("Sallis") filed a complaint against Defendant Portfolio Ambassador East, LLC, ("Portfolio"), owner of the Ambassador Hotel in Chicago, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging that she was subjected to a hostile work environment while employed at the Ambassador East Hotel in Chicago when she was sexually harassed by two supervisors in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1); and that Portfolio discharged her in violation of the anti-retaliation provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3 because she complained about the sexual harassment.

According to her complaint Sallis was employed as a housekeeper at the Ambassador East Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, since May 3, 2000, and had satisfactorily performed the duties of her job. On November 23, 2005, Sallis was notified by a co-worker that another employee, Larry Cason, accused her of engaging in sexual acts with him. Sallis reported the incident to human resources director Elvia Munoz. Munoz and other members of the hotel management staff, including general manager Paul Lauritzen and executive housekeeper Bill Smith, "failed to take any action against Cason to have him cease and desist from engaging in his sexually offensive and derogatory behavior. Sallis alleges that as a result her work environment became hostile, egregious, outrageous, and offensive and severely affected her ability to perform the essential duties of her job.

On December 30, 2005, Sallis was discharged from her job as a housekeeper at the Ambassador East Hotel by Paul Lauritizen, Bill Smith, and Portfolio human resources director Linda Noriega. Sallis was told she was being discharged because she left work early on December 23, 2005. Plaintiff did not receive any documentation validating the reason for her discharge. On April 4, 2006, Sallis filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). On March 1, 2007, the EEOC issued a "right to sue" letter authorizing Sallis to sue under Title VII within ninety days. Sallis filed her lawsuit against Portfolio on May 24, 2007 and it is still pending.

Continue reading "Illinois Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against Ambassador East Hotel in Chicago" »

A sexual harassment case in Ohio in which two women accused Anthony Gutierrez the general services administrator and friend of the former attorney general Marc Dann of sexual harassment rejected an offer of $200,000. The woman are seeking $900,000 to settle their sexual harassment lawsuit. The women Cindy Stankoski, and Vanessa Stout claim persistant sexual harassment which has cost them their jobs. Stout quit and Stankoski is on an extended leave.

According to a report involving the investigation of the sexual harassment, the rude, vulgar and abusive conduct of senior management, including the attorney general himself, created a hostile work environment and sexual harassment was tolerated. Additionally, Jennifer L. Urban, a staff attorney who had alleged sexual harassment by Gutierrez also and Dann's top spokesman, Leo Jennings III, was fired. The office rejected Urban's claims of sexual harassment.

To show how expensive sexual harassment lawsuits are to defend, Littler Mendelson, a law firm hired by Rogers' office to negotiate a settlement, has received $41,198 thus far, more than twice the amount originally budgeted, attorney general spokesman Ted Hart said.

The EEOC in the last ten years has been active in pursuing claims against employers who sexually harass or otherwise discriminate against employees. Below is a survey of the dollar amounts employees have been awarded in cases brought by the EEOC.
In 2007, companies paid more than $65 million in prelitigation EEOC settlements alone.

EEOC v. Parmalat Bakery Division of North America, Defendant, a New Jersey division of an international company headquartered in Italy, was charged wtih sexual harassment, retaliation, and constructive discharge. The complainant was a sales division manager and the only woman in an office of four male executives. She was subjected to unwelcome sexual advances, sexually explicit comments inappropriate touching and the showing of a pornographic video. She was awarded $300,000. Case resolved in 2004.

Kosen v. American Express Financial Advisors, Inc., A group of female financial advisors alleged that American Express Financial Advisors, Inc.engaged in preferential treatment of male advisors in mentoring, promotion, compensation, and work assignments in violation of federal law.

This was a class action lawsuit in which it is alleged that they experienced gender and/or age discrimination including, but are not limited to, career advancement, failure to hire as a Financial Advisor, distribution of leads and accounts, work assignments, promotion. They were awarded $31 million dollars. Case resolved in 2002.

Continue reading "Survey of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") Cases" »

As of November 1, 2001, the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") has been under a federal-court injuction that among other things, orders the IDHR to "cease permanently from relying on credibility determinations made without affording the rights of confrontation and cross-examination." Cooper v. Salazar, 98 C 2930 U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois at page 26. This case was followed closely by Illinois Sexual Harassment lawyers.

The purpose of the injuction is to deny the Department the ability to assess the credibility of witnesses where there is conflicting testimony. This applies to all witnesses whether they are for the complainant or respondent. In short, if the determination of substantial evidence turns on issues of credibility, the IDHR must make a finding of substantial evidence so the trier of fact may resolve the issue of credibility.

The Illinois Human Rights Act defines substantial evidence as "evidence which a reasonable mind accepts as sufficient to support a particular conclusion and which consists of more than a mere scintilla but may be somewhat less than a preponderance." 775 ILCS 5/7A-102(D)(2).

Conflicting evidence exists when there are statements of a person with material first hand knowledge contradicted by statements of a different person with marerial first hand knowledge; or business records contradicted or oral statements of a person with material first hand knowledge; or business records of one person contradicted by business records of another person.

Continue reading "The Illinois Cooper v. Salazar Injunction: A Relief for Illinois Sexual Harassment Lawyers" »