Illinois Sexual Harassment Attorney Blog

ABM Industries Inc., pays the large amount of $5.8 million to 21 female former employees to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). According to published accounts, one employee was actually raped by a supervisor while others were subjected to indecent exposure, groping, asking for sex and trading sex for promotions. This supervisor was out of control and you wonder who was managing him.

It is hard to imagion that this type of outrageous behavior and criminal activity was occuring at a place of business and top management did not know about it. This goes to show you how detached management can be from the day-to-day activities of its' business. You wonder why they call themselves management--what were they managing? In cases like this, once an investigation begins by an outside agency, the truth comes out and usually there is more than one victim. If management were doing its job, this could have been stopped with victim one and the others could have avoided all of the heartache and financial burden caused by the sexual harassment.

“We commend ABM for addressing what we found to be a grave and ominous situation for its female staff,” EEOC AttorneyPark said

Grays Harbor Community Hospital is being sued for sexual harassment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed the lawsuit on behalf of several female employees. According to allegations in the lawsuit, employee Jamie Toste repeatedly informed upper-level management that a supervising pharmacist was sexually harassing her and several other pharmacy technicians. The sexual harassment included offensive sexual comments, unsolicited discussion of his sex life and habits, showing explicit material from the Internet, and physically intrusive behavior such as approaching Toste from behind to whisper in her ear, blocking her pathway, and rubbing her back, legs and arms.

An investigation by the EEOC found the harassment of Toste escalated during 2006 and 2007, and that she felt compelled to resign after the hospital repeatedly failed to take effective corrective action to address her concerns about her safety. When an employee has to quit her job because of sexual harassment, it is referred to as a constructive discharge.

“Grays Harbor violated the law when it repeatedly failed to take action, despite numerous complaints from its employees concerning the conduct of this supervisor,” said EEOC attorney William R. Tamayo.

Pizza Pub pays $40,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of an 18-year old female worker. According to published accounts the manager of Pizza Pub subjected the female worker to physical touching and verbal comments of a sexual nature. The sexual harassment included telling her that he wanted to lick frosting off her body. The employee objected to his behavior but when it continued, she quit her job which is called constructive discharge.

If an employee is being sexually harassed at work and cannot escape the harassment other than quitting her job, it is the same as being fired. In this case the young woman was unable to escape the comments and physical harassment so she quit. Management needs to do a better job of training and supervising its' workers. Hopefully after paying this amount of money, the company will take the welfare of its' workers more serious.

“Teenage workers are especially vulnerable to sexual harassment in the workplace and must be protected. The EEOC will remain vigilant in its enforcement of federal laws prohibiting such discrimination in the workplace,” said Barbara A. Seely, EEOC attorney.

The Library of Congress ("LOC") settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with Theresa Papademetriou former librarian for $250,000. The government doesn't seem to be able to spend money fast enough--even in this tough economic environment. I hope the person that did the sexual harassment is no longer working for the government.

According to published documents Papademetriou, a 27-year veteran of the LOC accused Dr. Rubens Medina, then-chief of the Law Library, of persistent harassment of female employees. Many times an employee who is close to retiring will not want to rock the boat and may put up with this type of behavior. I was glad to see Papademetriou hold her ground and fight for the rights of herself and others.

Binghamton University ("BU") and the state of New York will pay $280,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by former fundraiser Elizabeth Williams. According to details in the lawsuit Williams accused two athletics department officials of using her as a sexual "plaything," to woo potential donors.

As is typical in a settlement like this, Williams resigned from her position as major gifts officer of the athletics department. You can bet the people responsible for this mishap will be called on the carpet. At a time when there are budget cuts and the economy is down, these athletic officials are costing the state much needed funds. I am glad Ms. Williams came forward and fought for her rights. It pays to hang in there. School sexual harassment seems to be happending more and people need to be vigilent.

"My feelings are it is a decent outcome," said BU interim president C. Peter Magrath.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against Garfield Medical Center alleging the hospital allowed a male worker to sexually harass an entire class of female workers. According to reports which were published, the sexual harassment included inappropriate touching and rubbing of body parts, propositions for romantic dates and sex-for-pay, graphic discussions of sexual activities, vulgar comments regarding female employees’ body parts, and even obscene comments regarding underage patients at the facility.

In an even more shocking revelation Garfield terminated an employee because she complained about the sexual harassment, while others were compelled to quit rather than endure the severely hostile work environment. When a worker is forced to quit because of a hostile work environment, it is called constructive discharge. This type of behavior by a large employer is sure to cost them plenty. I am glad the workers who are being sexually harassed decided to stand up and fight. This case will be followed closely and the results will be posted.

“The facts of this case are truly disturbing,” said Anna Y. Park, EEOC attorney. “While hospitals and health care facilities tend to focus on patient care, federal law requires them to protect their employees as well from harassment and sexual abuse.”

The companies that own and produce the Dallas-based “Cheaters” television paid $50,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of two female employees. According to published reports, two female office assistants were subjected to sexually explicit remarks and unwelcome touching from the companies’ owner and upper management for the duration of their employment.

The sexual harassment included frequent comments and jokes of a sexual nature, propositions for sex, and unwanted aggressive physical advances. One problem was there was no effective outlet for the women to complain about the behavior because members of upper management were participants in the harassment, and there was no employee handbook or policy explaining the procedure for reporting inappropriate workplace conduct at that time.

“Just because the creator of Cheaters promotes a TV show business which thrives on featuring sexual transgressions, it is no justification for engaging in sexual improprieties which violate the employment rights of his female employees behind the scenes,” said EEOC Attorney Robert A. Canino

Mercury Air Centers, Inc., will pay $600,000 to settle a national origin, racial and sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC'). According to allegations made by the seven victims – including one Filipino male and six Hispanic males the company tolerated large amounts of discriminatory conduct and did nothing to stop it. In one instance a Filipino line technician was regularly referred to as a “chink,” “chino,” and “stupid Chinese,” and subjected to offensive statements about Filipinos.

The alleged harasser peppered the Guatemalan workers with derogatory remarks regarding their national origin, including references to them as “stupid Guatemaltecos” and stating that Guatemalans are useless and inferior to Salvadorans. Prior to learning the actual national origin of one of the Guatemalan victims, the alleged harasser also called him a “stupid Mexican.”

“We commend Atlantic Services for taking steps to rectify the hostile work environment that persisted at Mercury Air Centers,” said Anna Park, EEOC attorney.

In Illinois it is better to file a complaint of sexual harassment with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") rather than the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The reason is because the Illinois Supreme Court held that the plain language of section 2-102 (d) of the Illinois Human Rights Act imposes strict liability on employers for the hostile environment sexual harassment of employees by supervisory employees. The strict liability applies even if the supervisor has no authority to affect the terms and conditions of the employee's employment.

The Court held that it is not unfair to hold employers responsible for sexual harassment by supervisory employees because not only are supervisors the public face of the employer, but employers are in the best position to train supervisors and make them aware of the laws prohibiting sexual harassment. If you file a complaint with the EEOC, federal law will apply and you will be held to the standards of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is a much better approach to file with the IDHR and have more employee friendly standards.

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I get questions all the time on whether to file a complaint for sexual harassment with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). I believe there are great advantages in filing with the IDHR for certain cases and advantages for filing with the EEOC on others. First, in cases that large verdicts or settlements are unlikely due to the facts of the case, I file with the IDHR. The reason is the IDHR does a faster and more thorough job of investigating cases and bringing the case to the point where it will either settle or get set for a hearing with the Illinois Human Rights Commission.

The EEOC on the other hand does a poor job of investigating charges of sexual harassment or other forms of discrimination and in my experience it takes years for them to work the file. The advantage of filing with the EEOC is if you plan on asking for a right to sue letter and filing a lawsuit in federal court. I would only do this with the cases with the best facts. As an aside when you file with the IDHR they automatically cross-file with the EEOC. The bottom line is each case has to be evaluated on its' own merits and a determination made based on the facts of the case.

The city of New York will pay $300,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by two male police officers against another male police officer. According to published accounts, Leutenant Kieran Crowe was accused to fondling himself in front of two male sergeants. Both police officers agreed to the settlement which was broken down as follows: Sgt. Dominic Coppola will receive $175,000 and Sgt. Sean Gallagher will get $125,000.

Crowe retired from the NYPD in 2008 after he was found guilty of harassing the men. According to documents which were published as part of the investigation Crowe rubbed his crotch, simulated masturbation and wagged his tongue at the sergeants. The incredible defense for Crowe was that he had jock itch.

Crowe said, “It is possible because of medical conditions, but never in the way that these complainants have said.”

There is a real danger to making a false sexual harassment claim against somebody. A jury this month rejected the sexual harassment and retaliation claims a paralegal made against her former boss, lawyer Thomas Ostly, instead awarding him $1.55 million in damages in his defamation counter-suit. That is a serious amount of money and should make people think long and hard about making up false information in an attempt to get some fast money by filing a sexual harassment lawsuit.

The jury after hearing testimony determined paralegal Allison Moreno, acted with malice and oppression, laying the groundwork for awarding Ostly punitive damages. Morena claimed Ostly fired her when she refused to continue a sexual relationship with him. She said she felt pressured to have sex with her boss, and that she did so to protect her job and her plan to attend law school. The jury did not believe her and instead ruled in favor of Ostly.

"The system is not to be used improperly," Ostly said.

Female police officer Jennifer Gentile settles her sexual harassment lawsuit for $100,000. According to published accounts, Gentile claims she was subjected to repeated and degrading sexual harassment after she moved from the day shift to the night shift. She claims it continued after a move to the detective bureau. Gentile said officers made commnets about her breasts and one manager even said he wanted to get in her pants.

Gentile went to great lengths to avoid coming into contact with co-workers who were sexually harassing her. She eventually asked to be moved to a different shift so she could avoid being around these men. The city did not take effective steps to stop the harassment after it was reported to top management. Now that the taxpayers have to pay this large amount I am sure management wishes it stopped the sexual harassment. In Illinois a case like this would be first filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC").

A police dispatcher told her he would like to "bend her over."

A Korea-based food company, which owns a restaurant called Chilbo Myunok agreed to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for $170,000. The sexual harassment allegations were against a former restaurant manager by many women who worked as waitresses.

According to the EEOC, their investigation found a class of waitresses were sexually harassed at the Chilbo Myunok restaurant. The accused manager was fired which was a good first step. However, the manager was not fired until after the EEOC got involved. In addition to the $170,000 settlement, the agreement also stipulates that all employees will receive anti-discrimination training.

Lisa Easi, who was employed as an administrative assistant to chief deputy Terry Tichava, settled her sexual harassment lawsuit against him and the department for $188,000. According to her complaint, Tichava would touch her, make lewd comments and force her into lewd sexual positions. The sexual harassment also included sexual jokes. Easi complained to Tichava's superiors however nothing was done to stop the sexual harassment.

Easi claims she was fired after she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). This would also be referred to as retaliation. When people settle their lawsuits they don't admit liability as part of the settlement however, paying this large amount of money gives you an idea of the truth of the allegations.

Hilltown Packing Company settles sexual harassment lawsuit for $48,000. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of Filomena Ruelas and other women who worked for the company. According to published reports, Ruelas and others were sexually harassed by their supervisor and then the company engaged in retaliation when they opposed the sexual harassment.

The company which packages Broccoli denied any wrongdoing but the settlement amount should serve as evidence as to what really happened. Supervisors are in a position of authority over employees and they must act in a responsible manner. I am glad that the EEOC stepped in and held the company responsible.

“Women in the agricultural industry are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment, especially immigrant women who may not be proficient in English and are unaware of their employment rights,” said EEOC Attorney William R. Tamayo.

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.

The Musselman Company will pay $300,000 to a class of female workers to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed the by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of the women. In court papers the EEOC alleged a class of female farmworkers was subjected to sexual harassment by male coworkers at its processing plant. The sexual harassment included lewd comments and unwanted sexual advances.

The male coworkers also used a forklift to chase women as they walked down the hall. The company wrongfully disciplined or reassigned employees in retaliation for their complaints about the abusive treatment. The EEOC was able to hold the company responsible and make them pay a significant amount of money.

"The EEOC has seen a troubling number of sexual harassment charges filed by farmworkers across the country,” said Debra Lawrence, the regional attorney of the EEOC"

A federal district court ordered an employer to stop questioning Hispanic farm workers who filed charges of sexual harassment and retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") concerning their immigration status, employment history and, in one woman’s case, her sexual history. The employer is this case was trying to kick up as much dirt as possible to distract from what was really taking place.

The Judge reasoned that the public interest would be far better served if meritorious discrimination claims were filed by immigrants regardless of their status. Another words, if people have to fear being deported or getting into immigration trouble they are less likely to come forward and complain about sexual harassment or other forms of discrimination.

An Elks Lodge in Jerseyville Illinois will pay $107,500 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit which was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of three female bartendors. According to the lawsuit the club’s trustees sexually harassed the three female bartenders. Details of the claims include that three trustees made repeated unwelcome sexual advances and sexually explicit comments to three bartenders but when the women complained, they were threatened, their hours were cut and they were assigned the least desirable shifts. This type of treatment is also referred to as retaliation.

One woman was fired, and the other two felt forced to quit. When an employee feels that because of discrimination directed toward them they must quit their job, the legal term utilized to describe it is constructive discharge. As part of the settlement, the Elks Lodge also agreed to conduct sexual harassment training for Elks managers and employees and to report complaints of sex harassment made by Elks employees to the EEOC regional attorney for a period of three years

Two police officers won a sexual harassment lawsuit and received $300,000. The person who did the sexual harassment was an openly gay male colleague in the New York Police Department. According to details of the lawsuit, Lt. Kieran Crowe sexually harassed Sgt. Dominic Coppola and Sgt. Sean Gallagher. The sexual harassment included Crowe making sexually explicit gestures with his hands and his tongue at the male officers. One of the manual gestures the officers complained about was Crowe allegedly rubbing his crotch in front of them.

In a remarkable defense strategy, Crowe testified that if he had rubbed his crotch, it was due to medical conditions. He even brought in a medical expert and his dermatologist confirmed that Crowe had suffered from jock itch. The administrative law judge did not buy that rubbish and awarded the large amount to the two men. Sexual harassment does not just involve members of the opposite sex. Same sex harassment or harassment based on sexual orientation is also against the law and if you are subjected to it, you may be entitled to monetary damages.

EEOC lawyer Ernest Haffner said, "It’s certainly possible that there’s more sexual harassment of men going on, but it could just be that more men are coming forward and complaining about it."

Carmel City will pay $600,000 to settle a sexual harassment and age discrimination lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed against the city because allegedly the city's top administrator Rich Guillen sexually harassed Jane Kingsley Miller, the city's human resource manager. After Miller rejected the sexual advances she claims Guillen engaged in retaliation. Miller alleged in her lawsuit that the office was a buzz with sexual activity and two women who had sex with Guillen were rewarded while her position was eliminated after she refused to have sex with Guillen.

In the lawsuit Miller alleged that what was going on in the office was common knowledge around City Hall and nothing was done to stop it. Miller was 63 years old and anyone over the age of 40 may allege age discrimination if they have facts to support it. Cases like this show how public entities throw tax payer money around like there is a printing machine in the back room. I don't know what Miller was making per year in salary but the smarter thing to do would have been to buy her position out and retire her once she came forward with complaints. Also, if the city had investigated this properly, and put a stop to it, perhaps they could have saved a great deal of money. By paying this amount of money, the city realized it had a losing case, the typical language about paying to end litigation but not acknowledging liability is laughable when you pay over half a million dollars.

"By resolving this matter and avoiding months of litigation and expense we can look forward to redirecting more energy and resources to the many challenges facing the city in these uncertain economic times," the city's press release said.

Adecco settled a retaliation lawsuit that was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for $62,500. According to published accounts, Adecco disciplined and fired Jeffrey A. Byard, a former office supervisor because he spoke out in support of his supervisor when she complained of sexual harassment by her boss. In sexual harassment and other discrimination cases, they people who are part of the investigation also have protections.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful to retaliate against an employee because he testified, assisted, or participated in a proceeding protected that law. I see many cases where the company retaliates against people who are involved in an internal investigation and it ends up costing the company more to settle those cases than the original case. This company needs better internal processes in place with regard to conducting a proper investigation. I bet after paying this amount of money they will put better processes in place.

“Claims of retaliation are taken very seriously by the EEOC,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, EEOC Attorney. “Employers cannot take action against employees because of their participation in employment discrimination claims, either as a witness or because the employee gave a statement, as Mr. Byard did."

Billboard company Trinity Products, Inc. pays $55,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of a female assistant. According to the published documents in the lawsuit a high-level manager sexually harassed the assistant with offensive language and gestures. Additionally the manager asked the assistant for sexual favors.

The female rejected the advances and because of that the manager tried to replace her. She also complained about the conduct of her manager and that resulted in her discharge. Such conduct is called retaliation. It is unlawful to fire someone because they are complaining about sexual harassment. This is a classic case of the company trying to sweep a person complaining under the rug. Hoepfully the company will spend some time training its' managers and other high ranking employees on discrimination law and give them a primer on sexual harassment.

“Federal law mandates a workplace free from sexual harassment and retaliation for reporting such misconduct,” said Barbara A. Seely, attorney of the EEOC.

Linda Lanosa who is a police dispatcher claims she experienced repeated sexual harassment at work and is suing for $250,000. In her lawsuit Lanosa claims Sgt. Brian Thies made comments about her breasts and asked her to flash him in the bathroom, among other things. Lanosa also accused Thies of performing a lewd act that he broadcast over the police radio. State police conducted an investigation that exonerated him. This case sounds like it will be a real battle.

The town questioned the validity of Lanosa's claims, saying that any workplace issues should have been reported to a town official immediately and noted she waited a long period of time before complaining. I see this happen often where someone is the victim of sexual harassment and they wait a long time to report it. There are many reasons for this, sometimes the person thinks they can handle the problem and doesn't want to rock the boat.

“There's nothing the town did against Linda Lanosa,” Mayor Dunn said. “The taxpayers shouldn't have to bear the brunt of this.”

The only thing worst than being subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation for either reporting the sexual harassment or rejected the advances is to not be able to prove your case and therefore be left holding the bag. It is very important to have either a witness or a tangile piece of evidence that will support your allegation. I won't spend much time on the witness because if you have one, that person can speak to what happened. One thing I would say about witnesses in general are that sometimes they are reluctant to come forward because they fear for their job. The point is, sometimes you think you have witnesses but when it comes right down to it, you won't.

The next best evidence are the words from the harasser. The best way to get his words are if he leaves a voice message or is he sends you a text or email. Remember in Illinois you can't record someone without their permission. On the other hand if the person leaves a voice message, he is consenting by leaving the message so saving his message is legal and you can utilize this at trial. If your harasser sends you a text message save it and get in touch with an attorney early on so he can show you how to properly save the text message for use later on. Your case will first be filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and 90% of all cases settle so there is a good chance you will never have a trial.

Continue reading "Proving Your Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

Chilbo Myunok USA LLC, a Korea-based food company which owns a Los Angeles restaurant and a chain of fast-food stores in Korea, pays $170,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of a class of waitresses. According to published reports the waitresses were sexually harassed at the Chilbo Myunok restaurant and four of them were forced to quit to escape the harassment--this is commonly referred to as a constructive discharge. When the harassment gets too severe and a person can no longer work because of the harassment they are forced to quit and this is a separate discriminatory act that is compensatable.

Details of the lawsuit include the victims facing continuous verbal and physical sexual harassment from the restaurant's manager. The manager, who has since been fired, repeatedly subjected the women to sexual touching with a sexual device and to unwanted hugging and kissing. The EEOC many times will take up cases where there are more than one victim and they can get more bang for the buck. If there were only one waitress the chances are the EEOC would issue a right to sue letter and the waitress would be left to hire a private attorney to continue the lawsuit. In Illinois I prefer to file directly with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") which automatically cross-files with the EEOC. I believe the IDHR does a faster and more thorough job than the EEOC of investigating individual charges.

"By working with EEOC this way, Chilbo Myunok has clearly shown its commitment to making needed changes to policies and practices to ensure equal employment opportunities for all of Chilbo Myunok's employees," said EEOC's Perry.

The state of Oregon and former Public Safety Standards and Training director John Minnis pays $450,000 to a woman who had accused Minnis of sexual harassment. Minnis no longer works in his position as he was forced to quit after the allegations in the lawsuit became public. The woman who remains annonymous worked for Minnis and alleged that he sexually harassed her at the job and exploited her alcoholism in attempts to seduce her on business trips.

What was utilized to prove the sexual harassment was a timeline of events that was out of place along with the statement of the woman. In this case Minnis promoted the woman then gave her a raise that was out of the norm. Minnis and Doe attended a work-related conference in Bend and at that conference Minnis groped Doe in a hot tub and in his room, but she told him that she was not interested. Even though this would be her word against his, the other evidence provided a story of its own.

Continue reading "Woman Receives $450,000 To Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

EPI Avanced a company that makes plastic injection moldings pays $190,000 to settle a sexual harassment case which was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of several female workers. According to published reports, a male supervisor and a male co-worker made sexually explicit comments and propositions toward the females workers and it even escalated into physical contact. In some instances women were grabbed and touched.

The allegations of sexual harassment were brought to the attention of management, but management failed to stop the sexual harassment. I bet after paying $190,000 management will take allegations and complaints of sexual harassment more serious in the future. It amazes me that a company could take such a neutral stance toward sexual harassment and didn't spend more time investigating the problem and fixing it. I am glad these females pursued their claim and made the company pay. Good job for hanging in there and fighting for their rights.

Adecco Staffing will pay $12,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit which was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of a group of female workers. According to published accounts, a supervisor frequently made lewd and sexually offensive remarks to the female workers. He also allegedly rubbed himself against them, hugged them and slapped them on the buttocks.

The workers complained to Adecco officials but nothing was done to stop the sexual harassment. In fact, the company not only failed to intervene on their behalf but continued to assign female employees to work under the alleged harasser. Adecco then retaliated against one of the workers by firing her, while another was forced to quit because of the “ongoing and intolerable harassment. When a worker is forced to quit because of sexual harassment or other forms of discrimination it is known as a constructive discharge.

Continue reading "Adecco Staffing Pays $12,000 To Settle Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit" »

EPI Advanced, LLD and Engineered Products Industries, LLC will pay $190,000 to settle a sexual harassment and constructive discharge lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of Cathy Johnson. According to details of the allegations, both companies allowed Dean Miller and other male co-workers to sexually harass Johnson and seven other women. The women claimed that they were forced to put up with all types of sexually explicit comments and propositions.

Some of the woman claimed they were grabbed and touched by Miller. Several women quit because of the sexual harassment, which is referred to as constructive discharge. One woman quit her job after Miller phoned her at work threatening to sexually assault her in the employee parking lot. Although several complaints were made by victims to management, the company failed to properly investigate complaints and stop the misconduct. It is amazing that a company could let this type of behavior continue and do nothing to stop it. I bet the company is taking a different approach now.

Celia Liner, EEOC attorney, said, “The environment at EPI was simply intolerable. Women should be able to report to work and do their jobs without being subjected to harassment."

Two Sonic Drive-In franchises pay $55,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the . Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of teenage female workers. According to the filed documents in the lawsuit Sonic routinely subjected teenaged female employees to abuse by a manager and others, including threatening one young worker with a knife. The EEOC also contended that this manager permitted and encouraged other male employees and managers to join in the harassing conduct.

The details in the lawsuit include Aracely DeLeon, a 16-year-old employee, who was forced to quit due to sexual harassment by the manager, and another young employee, Elizabeth Maxwell, then age 17, was also subjected to sexually harassing conduct by the manager. This kind of behavior against teenages is outrageous. The EEOC did a great job and held the company's feet to the fire.

“This lawsuit was filed in order to protect some of our nation’s most vulnerable and impressionable workers – teenagers who, often, are newcomers to the workplace,” said Jim Sacher, the EEOC’s regional attorney

A former California Conservation Corps supervisor who was fired for reporting sexual harassment has been awarded $159,000 in a jury verdict. The case involved 66-year-old Margaret Grodzik. She worked at the Corps for three years and was fired after she reported sexual harassment and other misconduct including retaliation.

During trial Grodzik testified that the female corps members were subjected to rape, sexual harassment and retaliation by their male counterparts and that many of the women suffered injury. The jury obviously found her credible and awarded her some substantial money. It is always nice to see someone stand up and take on their employer. Jury trials have advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that a jury can put themselves in your shoes and feel your pain, whereas a Judge is more likely to become less emotional.

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" »

Kimberly Passananti was awarded a whoping $4.1 million by a federal jury in her sexual harassment lawsuit. She filed the lawsuit against Cook County alleging sexual harassment by her supervisor. According to details in the lawsuit, Passananti was sexually harassed by John Sullivan at the sheriffs department. Passananti alleged during the trial that she was terminated from her position as deputy director of the Day Reporting Center.

During trial she accused Sullivan of spreading false rumors among colleagues that Passananti engaged in sexual relations with an inmate she supervised, made repeated unwanted sexual advances and called her "bitch" on numerous occasions. Passananti was fired and the reason given for her termination was that her position had been eliminated. However, a male was hired to replace her and the reason given to her was just pretextural. It is often called retaliation when someone fires you for opposing sexual harassment.

"Sullivan intentionally subjected plaintiff to unequal and discriminatory treatment by creating a hostile and abusive work environment that altered the condition of plaintiff's employment," according to court papers.

Coffee giant Starbucks settled a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a teenager who claims she was subjected to sexual harassment by an older manager. The settlement comes less than a month before the sexual harassment trial. The settlement amount is unknown at this time as the parties signed a confidentiality agreement as part of the settlement which is common. The lawsuit alleged Kati Moore who was sixteen at the time she was working at Starbucks was sexually harassed by her manager and he attempted to have sex with her. Moore complained about the sexual harassment but Starbucks did not stop the harassment.

Moore's case was featured on the television investigative series "20/20" as part of an investigation into the sexual harassment of teens in the workplace. In seems to be a more common occurance in the workplace where young vulnerable female workers are under the control of poorly trained male managers.

Affordable Care coughs up $150,000 to settle a sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of two female employees. According to published documents Affordable Care violated federal law when its affiliated dentist, Nelson Wood, engaged in sexual harassment and racially harassed two female employees. The facts were that Wood created a sexually and racially hostile work environment for Ariede Mills, who is African American, and Laura Carl, who is white.

The lawsuit alleged Wood referred to women as “whining bitches,” propositioned Mills for sex, spanked Carl repeatedly on the buttocks, made insulting remarks about blacks, and claimed that he had a relative who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. It is outrageous the a professional would act in this manner. Both Mills and Carl complained repeatedly about Wood to Affordable Care but the company failed to stop the harassment. To add fuel to the fire Mills was fired in retaliation for her complaints, and Carl was forced to quit because of the offensive conduct. Quitting because of that type of behavior is referred to as constructive discharge.

EEOC Attorney Markus L. Penzel said “The EEOC is pleased that Affordable Care worked cooperatively with us to resolve this case with minimal litigation."

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.

Former Kendall County Illinois Sheriff's Department worker Lisa Easi will receive $188,000 to settle her sexual harassment lawsuit against Terry Tichava, the chief deputy in the Kendall County Sheriff's Department. Easi was a twenty year veteran of the department and was Tichava's secretary at the time she was fired.

This case was getting closer to trial and many times the defendant will start to look at the total amount it may have to pay if it losses at trial. Sexual Harassment lawsuits because of their emotional nature can produce large awards. Many times a defendant is not willing to risk the details of all the testimony coming out and the potential of a large jury verdict. With a settlement amount this large, the testimony must have been damaging and there was obviously something of substance to this lawsuit.

In Illinois before you file a sexual harassment lawsuit in fedearl court you must first file a claim of discrimination which includes sexual harassment with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") or the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR"). If you file with the IDHR they will automatically file with the EEOC.

The University of New Hampshire pays $220,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Amy Kallianpur, a former professor. According to the lawsuit, Kallianpur alleged she was the victim of sexual harassment by her boss, department Chairman Chuck Gross. She accused Gross of making sexually offensive statements such as repeatedly telling her that he loved her and demanding that she tell him that she loved him. Gross also allegedly made demands that they share a hotel room. Kallianpur first filed her complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and then filed a lawsuit in federal court.

Kallianpur complained to management about the sexual harassment and management refused to intervene and stop it. After Kallianpur complained Gross and the school engaged in retaliation against her by not renewing her contract. Gross no longer works at the University as he retired prior to the settlement of the lawsuit. It is always nice to see people stand up when they are being discriminated against.

"He threatened her by telling her a story about a student who intended to complain against him, and how he preempted her complaint by giving her a failing mark so as to damage her credibility," the lawsuit said.

Kentucky Fried Chicken will pay 19 female employees more than $1 million to a settle sexual harassment lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of 19 female workers. Looks like they were frying more than chicken at this place.

According to the lawsuit male employees openly described sexual desires and interests with female employees and engaged in unwelcome sexual touching and groping. What is really shocking is that three of the women were teenagers at the time. Paying this large amount of money will make the owners think long and hard about how they operate their business in the future.

"The allegations in this case were shocking," said EEOC District Director Delner Franklin-Thomas.

Ferdinarn Wilhelm who owns Decatur Rentals must pay $49,000 after a hearing in a sexual harassment case before the city's Human Relations Commission. The commission found Wilhelm guilty of sexual harassment against former employee Sally Nailer. During the trial it was alleged Wilhelm repeatedly sexually harassed her and other female employees. The settlement amount was broken down as $10,000 in back pay, $25,000 in emotional damages, and nearly $14,000 in attorney's fees.

Nailer worked for Wilhelm as a secretary and according to testimoney, Nailer accused Wilhelm of feigning a severe injury in order to force her to essentially act as a nurse. This nurse care included dressing him, cooking all of his meals and making trips to his house in the middle of the night for odd or seemingly unnecessary requests. At the same time this was going on, Nailer claims Wilhelm made sexual comments and unwanted sexual advances toward her. There were over ten witnesses that testified in this case.

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania pays $495,000 to Cameron Aulnero a former student to settle his sexual harassment lawsuit. According to the lawsuit Aulnero was sexually harassed by a professor and university officials knowingly allowed the sexual harassment to continue. Details of the lawsuit include professor William Chandler, who died in December, asking Aulnero out on dates and making references to the movie Brokeback Mountain, suggesting Aulner and a classmate were in a homosexual relationship.

Aulnero claims the sexual harassment made him fear for his grade in the class and that he suffered depression, anger and anxiety as a result of the harassment. I am seeing more and more cases of sexual harassment in a University setting. Professor's have a great deal of power and influence over their students. In this case, the professor used his position of power to try to manipulate the student, but in the end the student prevailed. The University should take a hard look at its' policy on sexual harassment and treat complaints in a more professional and serious manner. Good for Mr. Aulnero for standing up for himself and making the University account for itself.

Jackie Delgado a former Western State Hospital employee who alleged she was a victim of sexual harassment settled her lawsuit with her former employer for $995,000. According to terms of the settlement the state Department of Social and Health Services ("DSHS") and the Washington Federation of State Employees will each put in money to settle the lawsuit. DSHS says the state will pay $795,000 and the union will pay $200,000.

Delgado filed a lawsuit claiming sexual harassment against the state, the union and former hospital risk manager Barrette Green. She claimed Green sexually harassed her for years and the state did nothing about it despite repeated complaints against him. Her allegations included that Green pressured her into a sexual relationship, made unwanted comments at work about her body and once pointed an unloaded gun at her and pulled the trigger three times. It is amazing that a person like Green was able to keep his job as long as he did. This kind of behavior is not only wrong it is scarey.

"I’m glad it’s over,” “I definitely didn’t win, but I got to end it.” Delgado said

Thomas Dodge paid $132,250 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of female employees who claimed offensive touching, degrading and sexually explicit comments and pornographic images. According to the lawsuit the females reported the sexual harassment and unprofessional conduct to management but no corrective action was taken. Some of the female employees who complained were terminated and others were forced to resign. Those would be examples of retaliation and constructive discharge.

It is amazing that so many women could come forward and complain and management would do nothing to stop the harassment. Management in this case even went a step further and punished the women for complaining.

Everdry Marketing and Management, a dry wall company, had a jury rule against them and award $471,096 in damages for a sexual harassment lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of 13 female workers. The case concerned a prolonged period of physical and verbal sexual harassment of mostly teenage telemarketers by male managers and co-workers at Everdry’s Rochester, N.Y., location. According to the lawsuit the sexual harassment included repeated demands for sex, frequent groping, sexual jokes and constant comments about the bodies of women employees. On one occasion, a male manager requested sex from a teenager with the promise of a raise if she consented.

This is a follow-up article to the May 6, 2010 article written about this case. The amounts of money involved and the number of teenagers involved make this case worth mentioning twice. Hopefully the company will institute some real changes in the workplace.

“Many of the victims in this case were young and especially vulnerable,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien.

Eagle Wings Indusdries which is an automotive supplier pays $428,500 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of three female employees. One of the female employees Kimberly Bridgman alleged comments directed at her were lewd and included a request for oral sex in exchange for a transfer. This type of sexual harassment is referred to as quid quo pro and is latin for 'this for that". Another words, the requesting party was asking for something in return for something.

You can see how expensive the bad behavior of an employee can be. It is extremely important that employers take sexual harassment complaints seriously and train employees properly on what behavior is acceptable in the workplace. In this case Bridgman took disability leave because of the sexual harassment and when she returned to work the conduct continued forcing her to take leave again. This time when she tried to return to work, Eagle Wings refused to reinstate her unless she agreed to undergo a battery of psychological examinations. At this point she claimed to be constructively discharged and filed the lawsuit. Constructive discharge occurs when the employer sets forth conditions which if aren't met require the employee to stay off work.

A cashier and part-time cook at Bon Appetit alleged she was sexually harassed by her general manager Leslie Simmonds. She alleged the sexual harassment included being asked for sex, inappropriate comments and making her read a pornographic story he had written. The story was very detailed and very sexual. As a result of this behavior the female filed a sexual harassment complaint and settled her complaint for $22,500. The retaliation portion of her complaint arose after she rejected his sexual advances, and Simmonds retaliated by treating her poorly, and requested that she be transferred to his location.

She complained to Bon Appetit's district manager and provided a detailed account of the sexual harassment she had experienced. The district manager denied the harassment and stated that she had engaged in unacceptable behavior. Subsequently a raise she had been set to receive was revoked, and she was excluded from meetings. She resigned, believing that she had no choice and that her employer's treatment constituted a constructive discharge. It still amazes me that so many people in upper management take the approach of shooting the messenger instead of doing a proper investigation and resolving the problem. In this case Bon Appetit got off cheap.

Continue reading "Bon Appetit to pay $22,500 in Settlement of Charge of Sexual Harassment and Retaliation" »

Everdry Marketing and Management Inc. pays $471,096 in damages and $86,581 in post-judgment interest to 13 victims of sexual harassment. According to the complaint, there was a prolonged period of physical and verbal sexual harassment of telemarketers, most of whom were teenagers, by male managers and co-workers at Everdry’s office. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed the complaint on behalf of the female workers.

Cases like this show what can happend when people are put in charge of workers and don't have the proper training. It would be impossible to sexually harass 13 women without people realizing what is going on. Look how much money this type of behavior cost the company. It would make more sense to just properly train and manage your people.

“The 13 women in this case had to endure vicious sexual harassment and then live it again through their testimony in pre-trial depositions and the trial,” said Robert Rose, the supervisory trial attorney for EEOC.

Lafayette Colleg pays $1,000,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of five female employees. According to the lawsuit, the college’s supervisor in charge of “loss prevention” engaged in repeated and unwelcome sexual harassment of the women in the public safety department. The supervisor allegedly kissed the women and made hand gestures about sex acts he wanted them to perform.

Probably the most damaging evidence was that he e-mailed pornography and sexually explicit materials to the women. Email is turning out to be the best evidence because it is very hard to deny and it is something you can put in front of a jury and it is self explainatory. Colleges and employers would be wise to step up their sexual harassment and discrimination training to all employees to ensure this type of behavior does not happen. You can see how costly this type of behavior is.

“No one should have to endure the abuse these women faced at work,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien. “This significant settlement shows that the EEOC will insist on meaningful relief for workers who are victims of harassment.”

A jury awarded $150,000 to Josie Puglisi for her sexual harassment lawsuit. According to Puglisi, a male co-worker sexually harassed her for months and she repeatedly complained to management but they failed to stop the harassment. According to testimony a male co-worker snuck up behind Puglisi and bit and licked her ear. Puglisi said she immediately reported the alleged incident to a supervisor, but that the county waited five months to discipline him and to keep him away from her.

I will never understand why companies don't take action immediately. In this case the county will have to pay a good deal of money just because it didn't act quickly. At trial the county admitted it took too long to act. It is nice to see someone stick up for themselves and pursue the claim to the end. Hopefully companies will take sexual harassment more serious in the future.

"It was a relief to know that they owned up to it, and that no other woman will have to go through this," Puglisi said after the verdict. "

Preston Hood Chevrolet pays $120,000 to settle a sexual harassment, gender discrimination and racial discrimination lawsuit. The lawsuits were filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of females employees and Rickey Hayes. According to the lawsuits Preston Hood subjected a class of female employees to gender harassment and to sexually explicit, provocative and insulting language, pornographic material and unwelcome sexual advances.

Additionally, Preston Hood subjected Rickey Hayes to racial discrimination because he was black. Details of that harassment include, racial slurs and racially derogatory language. In both cases, the employees complained to management and nothing was done to stop or correct the harassment. You would think management would have the brains to realize that with so many people coming forward and complaining something bad must be going on. Many times management likes to put its head in the sand and take the approach that if they just ignore the problem it will go away. That was a costly mistake in this case.

“Every employee deserves the freedom to work in an environment free from any form of harassment,” EEOC attorney Delner Franklin-Thomas said.

Middlesex County will pay $1.59 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the sheriff department. Former sheriff’s officers Joan Ivan and Angel Jazikoff, alleged they were subjected to years of sexual propositions, innuendo and lewd, offensive behavior. This county recently paid $1 Million to settle another sexual harassment lawsuit which was filed by five women. You would think this sheriffs department would get their act together and spend some time fighting crime.

Ivan was an officer from 1999 to 2003, when she was fired after failing to pass a qualification test with her service weapon. Garrigan claims she was fired in retaliation for bringing the lawsuit. According to court documents, in March 2002, then county personnel Director Thomas Cross directed Sheriff Spicuzzo to reprimand an officer, but the officer was told no action would be taken. This case took seven years to settle and you can see how long it takes for cases to settle sometimes.

"It was on-going sexual and gender harassment. Individuals were accused of creating a hostile work environment,” said Jeffrey Garrigan, one of the lawyers for the two women.

Lafayette College pays $1 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by female employees. According to the lawsuit a campus police officer sexually harassed the females and subjected them to other lewd behavior. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of five women. According to the lawsuit the five women allege officer Barry Stauffer continued harassing them even after they complained about him to administrators.

Some of the details of the lawsuit include claims that Stauffer grabbed the breasts and buttocks of female employees,made lewd comments describing sex acts he wanted to perform on them, tried to look inside their shirts at their breasts, and unsnapped their bras. And probably the most damaging evidence was that he sent women e-mails with pornographic content. This type of behavior can expose a college to a great deal of liability as evidenced by the million dollar settlement.

''No one should have to endure the abuse that these women faced at work,'' said EEOC Chairwoman Jacqueline A. Berrien.

Continue reading "Lafayette College Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit For $1 Million" »

Golden State Mutual Life Insurance will pay $30,000 to settle a retaliation lawsuit. The retaliation lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of William Barringer after he was demoted in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment. According to the lawsuit, an employee who Barringer managed was sexually harassed by his supervisor, and this supervisor also supervised Barringer. Barringer reported the sexual harassment to the vice president and also told his supervisor that he was reporting his behavior.

In this case the Barringer stuck his own neck out to protect one of his employees and he suffered retaliation. It is good to see a good boss who goes to bat for his worker. I am very glad the EEOC was able to help Mr. Barringer and he was able to make the company pay for their handling of this situation. Good job Mr. Barringer.

“Employees should be confident that they can make their employers aware of violations of federal anti-discrimination laws without fear of reprisal,” said Lynette A. Barnes attorney of EEOC. “The anti-retaliation provisions of Title VII are indispensable to the attainment of a workplace free of discrimination.”

SDI Athens East, LLC, doing business as Sonic and Tomco Management, LLC, pays $70,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a carhop. The sexual harassment lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of the female worker who claimed she was the subject of sexual comments and other sexual type behavior.

The lawsuit alleged the store manager of a Sonic drive-in restaurant subjected a female carhop to a barrage of sexually charged comments and repeated sexual overtures. The lawsuit also states that the comments and conduct by the manager were so severe that the female was forced to resign, which is also known as constructive discharge. Cases like this illustrate why better training should be held in the workplace. Hopefully, this company will get the message that sexual harassment is not tolerated.

“The abuse suffered in this case is precisely the kind behavior that Title VII was enacted to stop” said Robert Dawkins, regional attorney for the EEOC.

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.

Nicole Whitley agreed to settle her sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation lawsui against the city for $170,000. According to the lawsuit Whitley was fired in retaliation for filing a sexual harassment and gender discrimination complaint while she was a police cadet at the state police academy. The problem for Whitley started when she was called into a room by a lieutenant and told that her nipples showed through her uniform during training and she was asked whether she was wearing a sports bra. The lieutenant went on to tell her to wear extra lawyers of clothing and a coat during future training.

Whitley complained to superiors about the conversation and need to wear extra clothing and felt that she was being singled out. Whitley injured herself and was placed on light duty. She was fired a few months later citing her probationary performance review as the reason. In that review she was cited for missing classes and failure to turn in a report. She believes this was a pretext for firing her because she complained about the comments. After being fired Whitley finished college and received a degree in criminal justice but has been unable to find employment.

This case shows the long term damage that can occur if you complain about discrimination. It is important to follow through and not let a termination of employment go unchallenged. In this case, she is getting a good settlement and this should help her find future employment.

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.

Twenty Three year old Katherine Salas filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Bical Chevrolet. According to published reports, some of the top men at the car dealership snapped her bra, whacked her rear end with a backscratcher and hounded her with sexual advances. Salas also alleges that things got so bad for her that she quit her job which is referred to as constructive discharge. Salas only worked for the dealership for six weeks as their receptionist and things must have been very bad if she had to quit.

In a good piece of luck for Salas and bad news for the dealership, general manager Charles Albanese sent Salas suggestive text messages. This is starting to be the best type of evidence of sexual harassment. The general manager will have a hard time explaining those messages. People should be aware that even if a text message is deleted on a cell phone, with the right software, the text message can still be retrieved from that cell phone. In male dominated fields like auto sales, there seems to be a culture of harassment toward females. Lets hope this lawsuit helps put an end to this type of behavior.

RJB Properties, Inc. and Blackstone Consulting, Inc., have been sued for sexual harassment, retaliation and national origin. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of Latino employees. According to the lawsuit, 14 employees who worked as janitors and supervisors were fired because of their national origin, sexual harassment and retaliation. The Hispanic employees also had to listen to derogatory names and comments while they were working.

Additional details of the lawsuit include one Hispanic supervisor who was fired because he would not follow his superiors orders to fire another Hispanic employee for no reason. An employee does not have to follow discriminatory orders from management. It was nice to see this supervisor stand up to management and not follow their allegedly illegal orders. The EEOC also alleges Hispanic male employees were subjected to sexual harassment and when they would not go along with the request for sex, were subjected to retaliation by being fired.

“Employers cannot apply one set of rules to Hispanic workers and another set of rules to non-Hispanic workers, which is what we found occurred here. said EEOC attorney Ann Henry

Continue reading "Chicago Based RJB Properties Sued For Sexual Harassment and Retaliation" »

Kane County Illinois will pay $75,000 to Erma Rodriquez who is a former corrections officer to settle her sexual harassment lawsuit. Rodriquez claims she was subjected to sexually suggestive remarks over the course of two years and she reported the harassment to her superiors. She also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and claims to have been the victim of retaliation for making the report. According to the lawsuit Rodriguez received a verbal reprimand after filing her claim with the EEOC.

The final straw for Rodriquez was when she found a phallic-shaped piece of insulation foam that had graphic markings on it. The item was left on her desk and caused her emotional distress. The lawsuit claims the day she found the item and reported it, she became the subject of an internal investigation which she claims was done in retaliation for making the report. It is typical in sexual harassment lawsuits to see the defendant make life difficult for plaintiffs once they come forward and file complaints. This is typical behavior and I am glad to see the defendants pay for what they did wrong.

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.

With the rise in technology and the use of cellular telephones equipted with keypads, there has been a rise in the use of text messages by employees. Because of this common form of communications, there is a potential abundance of evidence in sexual harassment cases. This new evidence is in the form of the text message. There are several issues with text messages that one should consider if they are to be utilized as evidence in a sexual harassment lawsuit. First, many people have the mistaken belief that if they delete the text message the cellular phone company can still retrieve the contents of the message from their computers--wrong. Although a deleted message will still be stored in the memory on the phone itself for a period of time, the cellular phone company will only have a record that there was a text sent and received, but not what the message said. How long the deleted message stays on the phone will depend on the model of the phone, the memory storage capability of the phone or more precisely the storage card of the phone and how much data is transmitted and received by that phone.

The second issue with text messages is how do you get the message off the phone so that it may be utilized as evidence. Some model phones will allow you to download the messages and then print them out. For models that don't have this capability, you can take a picture of the message to reveal the contents and phone number which sent the message. Another and better option is to forward the text message to your email account for storage and printing. Many cell phone users are not aware of this option but it should be considered. Discrimination lawsuits are on the rise and it is imperative that people become aware of the type of evidence they have at their disposal to help prove their case.

Money Mart must pay $30,000 after losing a sexual harassment lawsuit. According to the lawsuit Money Mart refused to properly investigate complaints about a manager at one of its Toronto stores. The problems for Money Mart started when Marjorie Harriott was sexually harassed by her manager. The sexual harassment consisted on her manager making inappropriate comments, steering at her breasts and buttocks and touching her. Apparently Harriott along with several other women complained to upper management but nothing was done to stop the sexual harassment.

This kind of settlement should send a message that complaints of sexual harassment must be investigated and taken seriously. Here you had several women complaining about this type of unprofessional behavior and still nothing was done to stop it. In the end Money Mart had to pay a substantial amount for its' failure to do a proper investigation into the discrimination claims.

"What the tribunal is saying in this case is that you have to fully and fairly investigate when allegations come to your attention," Sellar said.

Four former workers of supermarket giant PriceRite filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming they were the victims of sexual harassment. Details of the lawsuit indicate that the store manager was allegedly the one sexually harassing the women. the women include Charlene DeAngelo, Patricia Frasca, Kai Fasset and Rebecca Eastman. They not only allege they were the victims of sexual harassment but also other female customers.
According to allegations in the lawsuit the four women claim Potter attempted to have sexual intercourse with them. He also made nasty comments to them and would often times stare at the breasts and buttocks of female customers.

All of the women complainted to PriceRite's human resources manager but nothing was done to stop the sexual harassment. The women all claims they were subjected to retaliation for reporting the sexual harassment. In an interesting claim, Potter is alleged to have used surveillance cameras to focus on women who were shopping in the store. After we would spot a woman he liked he would brag about what he intended to do with the women.

“One customer found a note on her car, soliciting her to engage in some sort of conduct,” the lawsuit claims.

Four former employees of PriceRite supermarket filed a sexual harassment lawsuit alleging store manager David Potter sexually harassed them. Among the allegations in the lawsuit are claims Potter would show his penis, rub and manipulate his groin and grab his penis asking if the women wanted to touch it. If these allegations can be proven, the company will have some serious liability.

Charlene DeAngelo, Patricia Frasca, and Rebecca Eastman, claim they were fired soon after complaining to Potter's superiors. This is considered retaliation because they were allegedly fired after complainint about a protected activity. The fourth woman, Kai Fasset, quit the day after making an off-duty visit to the store with her boyfriend. The details of the alleged encounter are bizarre. Apparently Potter greeted the couple when they entered to shop and said to the boyfriend, that he should be congratulated for having sexual intercourse with Fasset. This should be an interesting case and this blog will keep readers posted on the outcome.

"Potter would routinely declare that he was interested in a quick sexual relationship with her (DeAngelo) and/or other employees," the suit states.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") settled two lawsuits against Landwin Management, Inc. for $500,000. The lawsuits involved national origin discrimination and sexual harassment. According to facts in the lawsuit non-Chinese banquet servers were not hired based on their national origin. Apparently all the non-Chinese banquet servers who previously worked for the hotel were not hired back during the turnover and instead replaced with less qualified Chinese workers. The EEOC alleges that the majority of the replaced workers were Latino.

Additionallty, Landwin Management which managed the San Gabriel Hilton subjected female employees to sexual harassment. Allegations of sexual harassment included the housekeeping department supervisor calling the women prostitutes and whores. The women complained to management and nothing was done to stop the sexual harassment. You can see how much money this ended up costing the company--not much of a cost savings. The company also has to deal with the negative publicity.

“The days when employers make decisions based on stereotypes and assumptions shaped by the race or national origin of their employees should be far behind us,” said Anna Y. Park, the regional attorney for the EEOC.

Cathy Monaghan is suing the El Dorado County Water Agency alleging her boss sexually harassed her, and that the affair eventually spiraled into threesomes with her husband. This is a very unique sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, William T. Hetland, her boss demanded sexual favors from Monaghan and if she refused she would be fired. Monaghan claims that Hetland that she gave in to the request for sex in part because he would get her drunk. At some point she began feeling guilty about the affair and told her husband, at which point the three of them participated in 'threesomes.

According to the lawsuit, after engaging in four separate threesomes, Monaghan and her husband agreed that she should end the affair but Hetland pressured her to keep having sex. At one point Monaghan told management about the demands for sex and she claims the company engaged in retaliation by firing her rather than address the problem. The stress of all of this made Monaghan continue to drink more and more and eventually led to problems with the law. She was arrested for a DUI and eventually fired from her job. The details of this case are pretty shocking and unique.

"Plaintiff was terminated in retaliation for opposing Hetland's sexual harassment and refusing to participate in sexual encounters. Plaintiff's termination constitutes an adverse employment action," the lawsuit states.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ("Seventh Circuit") has breathed some life into Paul Turner. Turner worked as a waiter for The Saloon, Ltd. ("The Saloon"), a Chicago steak-house. While working as a waiter her claims to have been the victim of several forms of employment discrimination including sexual harassment, retaliation, and violation of the Americans with Disabilites Act ("ADA"). According to the lawsuit Turner had a sexual relationship with his supervisor and claims that he ended it and she began to sexually harass him. Turner complained to restaurant management about the sexual harassment and filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC").

After getting a right to sue letter from the EEOC Turner filed a multi-count employment discrimination lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois and a Judge in that court dismissed the complaint during a summary judgment hearing. Turner appealed and the Seventh Circuit upheld the district court Judge except on the sexual harassment count. In short, the sexual harassment case will continue.

The details of the sexual harassment claims include, once a customer spilled champagne on Turner's pants, and when he went to the bar area to find towels to dry himself off, Lake, his supervisor and former lover followed him there. She put her hands inside his pockets, grabbed his penis, and said, "You sure are soaked." In another instance Lake pressed her chest against him and asked, "Don't you miss me?" Lake approached Turner from behind and grabbed his buttocks. Lastly Lake saw Turner with his clothes off while he was changing into his work uniform and told him that she missed seeing him naked.

CEO Gregory Moore of Smithfield's Chicken 'n Bar-B-Q chain agreed to pay $449,200 plus $375,780 in attorney fees to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. This may seem like large amount of money but Moore was ordered to pay $1.15 million to Jason Hallaman after a two-week jury trial. As is common in trials, many times the parties will agree to settle for a lessor amount in return for not appealing the decision. If the decision is appealed, it could take years for the person to get their money and there is always a chance the jury decision will be overturned or the award amount lowered.

According to court testimony in the case the trouble for Moore began when he fired his personal assistant Hallaman. Hallaman claims he was fired for rebuffing sexual advances. This would constitute retaliation. Several former Smithfield's employees testified that they also rejected Moore's sexual advances and were fired. Moore acknowledged at trail that he is bisexual. Moore also insisted that he fired Hallaman for poor job performance and because Hallaman forged a check. The jury didn't buy these claims.

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.

Penny Jackson the former Bauxite school janitor filed a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against her former employer. In the lawsuit Jackson claims that for a period of seven months she was subjected to repeated sexual harassment from the maintenance supervisor Sammy Roberson. According to court documents Jackson was subjected to propositions for sex and sexually explicit comments. Jackson alleges she complained about the sexual harassment and was then the subject of retaliation. Prior to filing her lawsuit Jackson filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") who investigated and issued a right to sue letter.

The school has a different story regarding Jacksons claims. The school claims Jackson was a poor worker and that many other employees refused to work with her. They claim they did not renew her contract because of her work performance not because they were retaliating against her. Both sides claim they have witnesses that will prove their respective cases. It should be an interesting trial if it ever gets to that point. Many cases settle and I am sure this one will settle at some point. The school should think about how much money they will spend in legal fees. On a positive note for the school district, the EEOC did not file the charge themselves and only issued a right to sue letter which it must do in all cases if it does not complete a full investigation or file the federal lawsuit itself.

“As a direct result of Jackson’s complaining to her superiors and officers of the defendent, she was disciplined and her employment contract was not renewed,”

Sandra Brewer filed a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against her former employer the College of the Mainland. According to the lawsuit Brewer was terminated from the college because she complained about sexual harassment which would constitute her retaliation claim. The issues for Brewer started back in 2006 when she alleges that for a period of two years Al Bass her boss and a college associate vice presidnet began to sexually harass her.

According to allegations in the lawsuit on a daily bases Bass would persistently make sexual advances and remarks toward Brewer. Although Brewer claims most the the time Bass would make sure the two of them were alone before he began his sexual advances, Brewer also claims a few times there were witnesses present. Brewer claims she told Bass many times to stop his bevahior but he refused.

"The reason for the termination was pretextual and simply a ruse designed to hide the illegal conduct," according to the lawsuit.

Continue reading "College of the Mainland Sued For Sexual Harassment" »

Decatur Chief Financial Officer Gail Busbey filed a sexual harassment against the city alleging Mayor Don Stanford made inappropriate comments and unwanted physical contact with her. Busbey is also alleging retaliation because she alleges Stanford attempted to terminate her employment after she filed a complaint about Stanford with the director of personnel Ken Smith.

Busbey settled the sexual harassment lawsuit for $93,000 and agreed to retire as part of the settlement. However, a member of the city council made statements about Busbey and now she is suing seeking over one million in damages for false light and breach of the agreement. In sexual harassment cases there is usually a confidentiality clause and also a clause about not speaking negatively about either party. You can see the problems that occur when one party talks about the other party.

“You hear rumors, but I feel like if it was something that was relevant that I needed to know about, someone would have presented it to me,” Hammon said.

Continue reading "Chief Financial Officer Gail Busbey Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit For $93,000" »

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

The following federal case, 3:07-CV-410-H, illustrates how difficult it can be to prevail in a case of sexual harassment or constructive discharge. Shironda McCloud filed a claim against the United States Postal Service ("USPS") alleging sexual harassment and constructive discharge. Constructive discharge occurs when an employee quits their job but claims they had to quit because the working conditions were so unbearable that a reasonable person would not continue to work in those conditions. Constructive discharge differs from retaliation in that, the employee quits in a constructive discharge case whereas an employee is fired in a retaliation case--or the employee may be the subject of some other negative job action.

The allegations in the complaint were that McCloud began working for the USPS and her immediate supervior, Mr. Purifoy did the following over the course of two days: stared at Plaintiff; made comments that Plaintiff was beautiful; danced around Plaintiff in an awkward manner; told Plaintiff, "I'll give you Friday off if you go out to the club with me;" gave Plaintiff Thursday and Friday off and grabbed Plaintiff's wrist when she reached for her time card. The complaint was based on those six incidents over a two day period.

McCloud told management about what happened, they investigated and removed Purifoy from managing her. Over the next two months McCloud claims to have seen Purifoy at work a few times but that he never spoke to her and that he had no work control over her--yet she quit her job claiming she could not even look at him without feeling wierd. The court found that this did not rise to the level of constructive discharge.

Continue reading "United States Post Offices Has Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Dismissed" »

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") can be faxed instead of filed in person or through the mail. If you have a charge of discrimination, whether based on gender, race, religion or sexual harassment you have to file the charge within 180 with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") or 300 days with the EEOC. The IDHR has always allowed for complaints to be filed by fax but the EEOC never recognized fax filings. In Laouini v. CLM Freight Lines, Inc. the Seventh Circuit held that a receipt showing a fax was sent to the EEOC is sufficient to prove the date of filing.

It is always very important to remember that there are very strict time limits to filing a charge of discrimination. You must not procrastonate and let too much time slip away. In some instances an employer may drag out the internal investigation so that by the time you receive the internal findings of the company, more than 180 days has passed and you can't file a charge with the IDHR.

Continue reading "EEOC Complaints Can Be Faxed" »

U.S. Security Associates Inc. must pay Jamie Marks $2.4 million because she was sexually harassed at work. The sexual harassment lawsuit, filed in federal court claims that Jamie Marks was repeatedly propositioned by Chris Hargrove for sex. Additionally it was claimed that Hargrove inappropriately touched her. In a remarkable piece of testimony Marks claims that Hargrove masturbated in front of her. Marks made complaints to management about the incidents and nothing happened.

Another lawsuit is pending against U.S. Security Associates in federal court with six plaintiffs all alleging sexual harassment. This is a good example of what not to do if you are a company. Can you imagion that a supervisor is engaging in this type of behavior and the company does nothing to stop it. It turns out that this level of ignorance was costly to the company as they are $2.4 million dollars lighter.

"There was a level of arrogance on the part of the company," Haynes said. "They weren't going to do anything about Hargrove."

For city of Madison worker Monica Everson settled her sexual harassment lawsuit with the city of Madison for $235,000. Everson in her lawsuit claims she was groped and fondled over 500 times during the course of her employment. She claims the sexual harassment took place at the hands of her boss Robert D'Angelo who resigned after the claims were made.

Everson has been on disability after she came forward with her claims and as part of the settlement she will resign from the city payroll and the city maintains its denial of her charges. Many times as part of a settlement, the employer will deny that it did anything wrong. However, money doesn't just talk it swears and in this case the money would seem to indicate that the city felt there was merit to the claims of sexual harassment.

A female police officer who wishes to remain anonymous settled her sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit against the city of Port Allen for $130,000. Although some details remain sealed some details include that on Dec. 4, 2006, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") issued a letter to the city stating that the Police Department had engaged in gender discrimination for disciplining an employee more harshly than other officers. The problems got worse and on Sept. 1, 2006 the EEOC issued a second letter asserting that the same employee was the subject of sexual harassment and the city failed to take appropriate action to correct the problem. This sealed the fate for the city.

In cases like this sometimes remaining out of the public spotlight is very important to the person who is the subject of discrimination. The fact that the EEOC issued two letters and the city paid $130,000 indicates that something wrong was taking place at the police department. It is important to hold those responsible by filing a complaint and following through with the process.

“I don’t totally agree with the settlement, but I understand that the council did what they felt was in the best interests of the city,” said Mayor Derek Lewis

Middlesex County will pay almost $1 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by five female sheriff’s officers against the county and sheriff’s department. You can see by these numbers how expensive sexual harassment complaints can be. The settlement – reached last May – awarded $522,980 to Officers Laury Hamilton, Eileen Mazzei, Gail Decibus-Cuffe, Janet Martinez, and Donna Karlson. As part of the settlement, the county also agreed to pay $327,020 in legal fees.

According to details in the lawsuit the five women were subjected to sexual harassment by various members of the Sheriff’s Office. The workers who did the sexual harassment were supervisors and also co-workers. The county did not take the complaints seriously--I bet they do now. The county disputes the validity of the complaints and claims to be settling because of the high cost of litigation.

Peter's Diner and its owner Angelo Giannkaris will pay a total of $27,500 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit with waitress Lynnann Zuest. It is alleged that Giannkaris sexually harassed Zuest and later fired her in retaliation for reporting it. According to the complaint Zuest was fired after approaching a fellow waitress and reporting that Giannkaris had inappropriately touched her by placing his hands on her hips.

Giannkaris disputed that he fired Zuest for reporting sexual harassment and instead said she was terminated for poor job performance. Giannkaris said Zuest dropped many trays and plates in support of his reason for her dismissal. However during further investigation there was evidence to support Zuest’s allegations and undermine the reasons Giannkaris gave for the firing. Also Peter’s had no policy in place regarding sexual harassment or the filing of workplace harassment complaints. Companies must have sexual harassment and discrimination policies in place so workers no where to go when they encounter workplace discrimination and harassment.

Suzanne DesMarais settled her sexual harassment lawsuit with the County after allegedly being sexually harassed by Lt. George Titko.Titko was in charge of the police department and DesMarais was under his control and while under his contrrol DesMarais alleged Titko sent her sexually suggestive text messages and left sex toys on her desk. Additionally he photographed her backside and subsequently posted the photo on the wall of the department.
Many times text messages can make or break a lawsuit. It was a good thing that she retained the messages.

In these types of cases people in power sometimes believe they can do anything they want and no one can stop them. This should let everyone know who was honest and right in the claim. In a time when local governments are cutting budgets, this is a good deal of money and this settlement will not sit well with taxpayers but the county has no one to blame but themselves.

"The (officers) of the department have stood by me and supported me through this whole process," said DesMarais "They backed me up 110 percent while I was on duty and since."

Latino workers who filed a racial discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit against Hilton Hotels settled their sexual harassment lawsuit for $500,000. The problem started when Landwin Management Inc. took over management of the Hilton hotel in 2005, some Latino banquet servers were fired and replaced with less qualified Chinese workers. The Latino employees contacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") which filed the lawsuit on the workers behalf.

According to Landwin they agreed to settle because they wanted to avoid expensive litigation costs that might lead to even more job losses at the hotel. That is a real laugh. Settling a lawsuit for half a million is a tacit admission of guilt even if the hotel won't come out and claim it. The bottom line is that most businesses only care about saving money and cutting costs and if they have to trample on the rights of employees, they really don't care. This is a classic example of that.

"If you can show that the job required certain special skills that could only be filled by Chinese speakers, that would be a different matter," said Derek Li, the supervisory trial attorney for the EEOC.

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.

Hotel magnate Kenneth Seaton is being sued for sexual harassment by two employees who seek millions of dollars in compensation. In a related bit of news, Seaton faces criminal charges over the alleged sexual battery of five women last fall at his business. The lawsuit was filed by two housekeepers, Samantha Fiedorowicz and Candice Michelle. According to allegations in the lawsuit, both women were required to attend an afternoon meeting in which Seaton was intoxicated and tried to kiss and grope the women including touching their buttocks and breasts.

The lawsuit also alleges unwelcome sexually offensive remarks and conduct, including lewd and inappropriate comments, requests for sex and fondling. Both women claim retaliation as they were terminated when they refused and resisted Seatons sexual harassment and offers for sex. The lawsuit seeks over $ 2 million in damages. Many times sexual harassment claims also involve claims of retaliation as the harassor will discipline or fire the employees for not cooperating with the request for sex.

"You would be surprised what Viagra can do for an old man," the lawsuit, filed in Sevier County Circuit Court, quotes Seaton as telling the two plaintiffs in the action. "If you cooperate," the quote goes on, "you won't need a husband."

Eagle Wings Industries, Inc. pays $428,500 to a class of female employees to settle their sexual harassment and Americans With Disabilities Act ("ADA") lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of the female workers. According to the lawsuit the female employees were subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about the sexual harassment. One female was also discriminated against by the company when it required her to undergo an unlawful medical examination, a clear violation of the ADA.

I see more cases like this in Illinois and this type of behavior still seems to be taking place in the workplace. It is very important for females to come forward when they encounter this type of sexual harassment and discrimination and contact an attorney. Many companies would rather sweep the issue under the rug once an employee comes forward and engage in retaliation rather than take the sexual harassment complaint seriously. As you can see from this case, it is a costly mistake for the company.

Continue reading "Eagle Wings Industries Pays $428,500 To Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

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.

Tammy Ratzlaff a female heavy-duty machine operator was awarded $47,000 by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal after she was sexually assaulted by the owner of Abbotsford construction company, Albert Rondeau. The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal is the same as the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Illinois Human Rights Commission. Ratzlaff testified that Rondeau was old enough to be her father and she believed he would be a mentor and teach her the various aspects of the job. Things began to change and within a month of starting her new job Rondeau began to make sexual advances to her and once in the office grabbed her buttocks and tried to hug her while saying sexually offensive remarks.

One of the job requirements was for Ratzlaff to stay overnight in hotels because the jobs required travel. The problem was Rondeau would stay at the same hotel. The sexual harassment was so obvious that other members of the crew knew of her predicament and offered to escort her to and from her room. They also made efforts to ensure she would not be left alone with Rondeau while in the hotel complex. Even with these best efforts however there as an early morning meeting and she ended up alone with Rondeau in his room and he took the opportunity to say he found her attractive and wanted to have sex with her.

The sexual harassment culminated on the evening of Nov. 25 when Ratzlaff was in her motel room and opened the door upon hearing a knock. Rondeau forced his way in, grabbed her throat and kissed her "aggressively, forcing his tongue into her mouth while he grabbed her breasts and tried to get his hands into her vagina. She kneed him in the thigh but he repeated his conduct.

Ratzlaff said the experiences left her "devastated, scared and traumatized."

Former Metro Schools Payroll Coordinator Vicky Crawford was awarded about $1.5 million on her claims she was wrongfully terminated when she cooperated in a sexual harassment investigation of a school official. This is also known as retaliation. Crawford, who had over 30 years service with the school disctrict claimed she was fired because she cooperated in the investigation. Her lawsuit was initially dismissed by a federal judge and upheld on appeal. Last January, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Crawford v. Metro Schools, that Crawford could sue claiming retaliation even though she was not the one who brought the original sexual harassment claims. This was a landmark case and should help employees who have been fired for cooperating with sexual harassment investigations.

The problems for Crawford began when there was an investigation into sexual harassment claims against Employee Relations Director Gene Hughes. Crawford told investigators Hughes would ask to see her breasts, grab his crotch saying, "You know what's up," and on one occasion pulled her head to his crotch. Human resources officer Veronica Frazier assured Crawford she would be protected from retaliation if she came forward and helped with the investigation. In the end no action was taken against Hughes however on the same day Frazier turned in her report on the allegations, she also sent a letter to Metro Nashville's internal audit department informing them of concerns with the operation of Crawford's payroll department. Crawford was then fired.

"It's been a long, long fight. It's been very hard all these years, and we're very happy with the verdict," said Ann Steiner, Crawford's attorney.

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.

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" »

Three Hispanic Emergency Medical Services ("EMS") females settle their sexual harassment lawsuit with West New York for $142,000. In a typical move, the town denies any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. In the present economic environment $142,000 is a good deal of money and I think the settlement speaks volumes about what really happened. Documents filed in court claim the five women allege their supervisor, Edward Monti, the former director of the ambulance service, sexually harassed them. They claim the sexual harassment consisted of sexual gestures, words, conduct, and behavior.

The females also claim they reported the conduct of Monti and the town took no action. Instead of an investigation and the sexual harassment to cease, the women claim Monti reduced their work hours in retaliation for complaining about his behavior. Monti is no longer in the position he once held and is instead the town's director of school crossing guards. So lets recap. The town pays $142,000 claiming it would cost more money to continue the litigation, while denying any liability and moving Monti to a new position where he supervises school crossing guards. Sounds like the town realized it had a problem and is quickly trying to end the problem.

"It ultimately comes down to dollars," said town attorney Daniel Horgan, who said by the time the case were to have made it to discovery, the town would have spent more than the cost to settle."

Continue reading "EMS Workers Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit For $142,000" »

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" »

Bill Heard Chevrolet Corp. will pay $110,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. According to court documents the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleged management and workers made crude remarks about women's bodies, grabbed at one female employees breasts, persistently solicited females for sexual favors and sexually assaulted at least one female employee. When the women cmplained to management in an effort to stop the sexual harassment, the females were either demoted, disciplined or fired--all forms of retaliation.

The lawsuit also alleges that management told some female employees that women should not be in the auto business. This type of behavior is not acceptable and the females stood up for themselves and made management pay. It is very important to document behavior like this and to contact an employment attorney who can file a complaint on your behalf with either the EEOC or in Illinois, the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR"). The IDHR will cross-file with the EEOC but by law only one agency will take the lead in investigating the complaint.

“The women in this case sought to earn a living selling cars and rightfully expected to do so while being treated with dignity and respect,” said Anna Park, regional attorney for the EEOC.”

Continue reading "Chevrolet Car Dealer Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit With EEOC For $110,000" »

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" »

The city of Shippingport agreed to pay $70,000 to settle a sexual harassment claim filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of Denise Cuteri. Cuteri is the former treasurer for the city. According to the claim Cuteri alleged she was sexually harassed by two road crew workers for months while working in the Shippingport offices. The two road crew workers were fired after an investigation and both were charged by police for the sexual harassment.

Road supervisor William T. Nelson and Jason Crooks were charged by police with repeatedly harassing Cuteri. The sexual harassment included making sexual comments, looking town her blouse and sending her explicit text messages. Text messages can often be used to prove sexual harassment and should be saved if you believe you are the victim of sexual harassment. Even if you delete the text message, there is software available to retreieve the deleted messages.

Jack in the Box is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for sexual harassment beacuse of frequent remarks about female employees' anatomy and unwelcome sexual advances and innuendoes. According to the lawsuit a manager is also accused of touching the victims inappropriately. The EEOC alleges that once management became aware of the sexual harassment and discriminatory conduct it failed to act and stop it.

Richard Bartels, the manager of Jack in the Box was named in the lawsuit. The name of the co-worker was not released. Another co-worker was allegedly sexually harassed and called the EEOC. The EEOC investigated the claims and filed the lawsuit on behalf of the workers once it was clear Jack in the Box would not settle the case. According to court papers one victim allegedly experienced sexual harassment for more than a year.

EEOC District Director Michael Baldonado of San Francisco said the alleged sexual harassment started in January 2007 by a co-worker and was continued by the manager in February 2007.

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Continue reading "Jack In The Box Sued For Sexual Harassment" »

People should be aware of how long a sexual harassment case can take if filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). Take this recent case. International Profit Associates ("IPA"), a Buffalo Grove-based business consulting firm, had a sexual harassment case filed by the EEOC against it on behalf of more than 100 plaintiffs eight years ago. Not only hasn't the case settled, but it has yet to go to trial. According to documents filed in court sexual harassment was rampant at IPA. Women employed there claim they were groped, called names and solicited for sex constantly and those who refused or complained were punished.

There are reasons why sexual harassment cases like this can take so long. Defendants and their attorneys can gain an advantage by making the process drag out. People get tired of litigation and may be more likely to settle for less. Other people involved in the case can't recall details and when the case does go to trial, their memories may not be as clear as to facts and conflicts in testimony may occur. I recommend keeping a diary to refresh your memory and to write details you may otherwise forget.

"I think that's fair to say it is unusual," said Diane Smason, one of the original EEOC attorneys to file the case on June 12, 2001, and who is still on it today.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Cases Can Last For Years" »

Carlota Freeman a former Whirlpool employee was awarded $1 million in a sexual harassment lawsuit against Whirlpool. The lawsuit was filed after Freeman was physically beaten and sexually harassment at Whirlpool. The other employee who did the beating, Willie Baker pleaded guilty to beating Freeman on the Whirlpool plant floor in 2004. According to the lawsuit Freeman claimed she was forced to work for two months in a hostile environment with Baker making sexual comments.

Freeman complained to supervisors at Whirlpool about Baker many times over a two-month period but nothing was done to stop the sexual harassment. After that, Baker physically assaulted her and Whirlpool could no longer ignore what was happening as criminal charges were filed against Baker and the authorities were brought it. The Judge in this case said Whirlpool failed to stop the harassment and failed to respond to her complaints.

"They pretty much turned a blind eye and thought this would go away," said Freeman's lawyer, Andy Allman.

Tis the season for holiday parties and workers who will do something stupid. It is remarkable what people do during Christmas parties once they are exposed to alcohol. If you have a work party and your attendance is required, what happens at that party is the responsibility of your company. There are many cases where employees are exposed to sexual harassment at a Christmas party. It is very important to protect your rights if you are exposed to sexual harassment at a party. Make note of any witnesses including waitresses or bartenders. Many times parties are held at upscale bars or nightclubs that have video cameras. It is very important to contact an attorney who handles these types of cases so the video can be saved as they are usually over-taped within a few days.

Six women who claim they were sexually harassed by Barry Stauffer, a former security guard for Lafayette College settled their sexual harassment lawsuit for $1.2 million. According to the terms of the settlement each women will receive $200,000. All of the women allege they Stauffer grabbed the women's breasts and buttocks, looked inside their shirts, rubbed their shoulders and tried to kiss them. The women also allege Stauffer made sexually lewd comments and sent his co-workers sexually explicit material and pornography by e-mail.

This type of behavior is not acceptable in the work place and more and more of this seems to be taking place in colleges. This case was brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of the six women. The EEOC investigates claims of sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination. In Illinois a person who believes they are the victim of sexual harassment can file with the EEOC or the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR"). Both agencies have the same role, with the EEOC being on the federal level and the IDHR the state level. I prefer to file with the IDHR and have them cross-file with the EEOC.

“In this case, we took immediate action, in accordance with our published procedures, in response to any complaint of sexual harassment that was received. The College has a zero-tolerance policy with respect to sexual harassment" said Roger Clow Lafayette College Spokesman.

Continue reading "Lafayette College Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit for $1.2 Million" »

The city of Atherton will pay $230,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former police officer. According to court documents former Atherton police Officer Pilar Ortiz-Buckley alleged Public Works Supervisor Troy Henderson of making salacious remarks and grabbing her in the police break room. Ortiz-Buckley suffered back injuries during the alleged incident, which prevented her from wearing her police duty belt and made it impossible for her to do her job.

After Ortiz-Buckley filed an internal complaint with the town, administrators did almost nothing to discipline Henderson and in fact blamed the policewoman for the incident. This is a form or retaliation and happens very often in cases like this. Ortiz-Buckley later pressed charges and received a restraining order against Henderson. In the restraining order Ortiz-Buckley claimed Henderson had done this many times and was in fact a serial sexual harassor. Henderson denies all of the allegations.

"This is a significant amount of money, but litigation costs are very high," City Attorney Wynne Furth said. "It does not mean that the town agrees with Ms. Ortiz's claim. ... Atherton is a small town with a small budget."

Continue reading "City Pays $230,000 To Settle Sexual Harassment Case" »

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" »

Schiemer Farms agreed to pay $14,500 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation alwsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of Theresa Arias and Rebecca Jones. The two women alleged in their lawsuit that management at the farm permitted their sexual harassment by Mark Henry an employee, and then engaged in retaliation when they complained.

According to the sexual harassment lawsuit Henry made vulgar remarks and talked about his sex life including very vivid and graphic details. Henry is also alleged to have rubbed his groin against one of the women. The women were originally seeking over $100,000 each in damages but the amount was lowered once the case was filed and it looked like it would come down to a he said, she said situation. In cases like this where there may not be many witnesses and it is one persons word against another, the settlement amounts are usually lower.

“I feel like I’ve been dragged through the mud,” Farm owner Schiemer said.

Thomas Dodge Subaru will pay $132,250 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit involving two female employees. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed the lawsuit on behalf of the two former employees who allege that Thomas Dodge Subaru subjected them to pornography, offensive touching, degrading behavior and sexually explicit comments.

According to the lawsuit the two female employees were forced to resign which cost them their only source of income. The severity of the sexual harassment was the cause of their resignation. Additionally the lawsuit claims another woman was retaliated against by being fired after complaining about the sexual harassment. The company failed to take appropriate action to stop the sexual harassment and engaged in retaliation.

"No employer should allow such degrading and shameful conditions for women in the workplace," said Spencer H. Lewis, Jr., district director of the EEOC's New York District Office.

Continue reading "Thomas Dodge Subaru Pays $132,500 To Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

Jessica Shell a Monroe County nurse is suing her former employer, Sweetwater Hospital for $1 million after she was allegedly sexually harrassed. Shell worked at Sweetwater Hospital in 2007 and according to her lawsuit more than one male co-worker made sexual advances and comments toward her. She is also alleging the CEO of the Sweetwater Hospital Association Scott Bowman sexually harassed her.

Shell alleges she complained of the sexual harassment to the hospital but they failed to stop the sexual harrassment. Shell also alleges she was fired after reporting the accusations which is retaliation. This case is shaping up to be a very explosive case with allegations involving the CEO. I believe that due to the current job market, many executives believe they can behave in any fashion they choose and the employee has to take it or leave.

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" »

Tracy Barker claimed she was raped in 2005 while working in Iraq for KBR inc. a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary. Barker claimed a former state department employee worked for KBR in Basra and sexual assaulted her, resulting in her rape. Barker was housed in mostly male barracks and consistently subjected to physical threats of sexual abuse and sexually explicit comments. Barker made a claim of sexual harassment against KBR inc. and the rapist personally.

Barker alleged other employees along with her complained to the companies but they did nothing and instead engaged in retaliation. She was awarded nearly $3 million by an arbitrator to settle her case. A federal judge in Houston had dismissed Barker's lawsuit in January 2008, because when she signed her employment contract she agreed that any dispute would be settled by arbitration. Looks like even with arbitration the company wasn't able to weasel their way out of paying a fair amount and giving Barker the justice she deserves.

"It took me a long time to get here. I'm happy about the award," Barker, 38, who lives in Yuma, Arizona.

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.

As a follow-up to yesterdays blog on the cost of sexual harassment to a company here is another example pulled from the new. The San Bernardino County Board will double the money paid to a law firm investigating a sexual harassment claim against District Attorney Michael A. Ramos. The law firm is asking for $140,000 to complete the investigation. The investigation is being handled by the law firm of Curiale Hirschfield Kraemer which needs more money because the investigation has become more complex than initially expected.

The case started when a seven-year employee of the District Attorneys office, alleged she had a 17-month affair with District Attorney Ramos and experienced on-the-job retaliation after a local weekly newspaper published articles alleging trysts between Ramos and his colleagues and subordinates. The woman is claiming sexual harassment and retaliation. According to the claim she had a spotless employment record until this summer, when she received a negative performance review and was written up for dress code violations, which she claim are acts of retaliation. You can see how expensive just the investigation into the behavior of another employee alleged to have engaged in sexual harassment can be.

"Like all investigations, one thing can lead to another," San Bernardino County spokesman David Wert said.

Defending a claim of sexual harassment can be a very expensive proposition. The employer must hire an attorney and decide to either settle or take their chances at trial with either a judge or jury. Many times if the employer does not settle early the legal fees will just keep rising and the employer will feel a vested interested in continuing to fight the lawsuit. Look at the following case to see the potential expense involved.

Stanislaus county supervisors agreed to pay three female sheriff's records clerks a combined $545,000 to settle a lawsuit just days before its trial date. This is after the county spent about $310,000 on legal fees, which brings the total to almost $900,000. One has to wonder how much the county could have settled the case for when it first received notice of the sexual harassment claim. Certainly it could have settled prior to spending so much on legal fees.

In addition to claims of sexual harassment, there are also usually claims of retaliation. In my office in Chicago I see many claims where both sexual harassment and retaliation are involved. Many management employees and human resource departments seem to be untrained on how to handle claims of sexual harassment and end up punishing the person who files the complaint. This usually ends up leaving the complaining employee in a hostile work environment.

A national movie theater chain, Regal Entertainment Group agreed to pay $175,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. The lawsuit was brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of a male worker who was being sexually harassed by a female co-worker. According to the lawsuit the company subjected a male employee to sexual harassment by a female co-worker and then retaliated against him for complaining about the unlawful conduct – along with two supervisors who tried to help.

According to the lawsuit a female co-worker who repeatedly grabbed his crotch. The male reported this conduct to his direct supervisor who complained to the theater’s then-general manager, but she failed to take adequate steps to stop or prevent the harassment. Instead, the general manager engaged in retaliation against the harassed employee and two other supervisory employees (male and female), who are part of the EEOC’s lawsuit. In Illinois retaliation includesd discipline, lower performance evaluations or other adverse job actions that are not warrented.

The Cheesecake Factory Inc. is paying $345,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit alleging six male employees were subjected to sexual harassment. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), on behalf of the males and also includes allegations that the company was on notice about the sexual harassment and tolerated repeated sexual assaults against the employees by a group of male kitchen staffers.

Some of the salacious details in the lawsuit include allegations the alleged abusers directly touched employees’ genitals, forced employees into repeated episodes of simulated rape and made sexually charged remarks. The EEOC contends that management was aware of the sexual harassment, were given formal complaints and did nothing to stop it. At the end the males called the police. This type of behavior can stay with employees their entire life and can alter their life. It is outrageous that management did nothing to stop the sexual harassment.

“The evidence was clear, and everyone knew about it,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office. “Behind the lavish decor that the company boasts on its Web site was a horribly dysfunctional workplace where male workers lived in fear.”

Continue reading "Cheesecake Factory Dishes Out $345,000 For Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

Tim Dahle Nissan settled a lawsuit for sexual harassment and retaliation by paying $455,000 and other substantial remedial relief. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC)" on behalf of five female employees who allegedly were subjected to unwelcome sexual comments and conduct. According to the lawsuit some of the conduct included many requests for sexual favors and sexually explicit language. According to the women many of the salesmen and sales managers took part in the sexual harassment over a period of several years.

An additional charge in the complaint was that Tim Dahle Nissan engaged in retaliation against one woman by firing her because she complained about the sexual harassment. In Illinois as in other states it is a violation of state law and federal law to fire an employee or take other adverse employment action if the employee complains about sexual harassment. Many times an employer doesn't want to deal with a complaint and finds it easier to fire the employee.

“Sexual harassment is always unacceptable, and it is especially disturbing when the harassers are mistreating a teenager in the workplace, as was the case here,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “The EEOC takes its mission to eradicate this misconduct very seriously.”

Continue reading "Nissan Car Dealership Pays $455,000 To Settle Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit" »

Kathy Rogers and Lisa Theberge who are two female firefighters filed a lawsuit against Westbrook's fire department, mayor and city administrator, claiming they failed to address sexual harassment that was documented in complaints to the Maine Human Rights Commission ("MHRC"). The MHRC is similar to the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") and is where I file most of my sexual harassment complaints. Both women are on paid administrative leave and are alleging obscene sexual harassment and discriminatory behavior in their lawsuit.

According to the allegations in the lawsuit several male firefighters, including the deputy chief, lieutenants and captains, engaged in incidents ranging from masturbation and pornography at the station to a sexual affair and sex at a fire department gathering. In one particular instance it is alleged that the deputy chief once approached Theberge and began stroking her hair. He was put on unpaid administrative leave for two weeks and, the lawsuit says, ''allowed to take it a day each week for his convenience.'' Some male firefighters groped female victims in the rescue vehicle and bragged about it afterwards. They were put on unpaid administrative leave for two weeks, discipline that Webber, one of the attorney's for the two firefighters called ''disproportionate to their conduct.''

''Sexual harassment is alive and well in the city of Westbrook at a level that's shocking to imagine,'' Webber said.

Continue reading "Firefighters File Sexual Harassment 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" »

A sexual harassment and retaliation case filed by a former security officer at a jewerly store was settled for $405,000. The security guard claimed he was sexually harassed and terminated after reporting the harassment to management in violation of federal employment law. The security guard alleged that during his employment as a security officer he was subjected to various acts of sexual harassment, including unwanted sexual attention and sexual propositions from a female senior manager, numerous instances of inappropriate and unwanted physical contact, and inappropriate and offensive comments.

According to the lawsuit the security guard reported the sexual harassment to senior management in accordance with company policy and, after doing so, he was terminated by the harasser as an act of retaliation. After filing a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") the case was resolved through a negotiated settlement for $405,000.

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" »

Napoli's Italian Restaurant, was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") claiming minor female workers were sexually harassed while working at the restaurant. According to the lawsuit a female server and other female employees at the restaurant were subjected to sexual harassment in the form of lewd comments, propositions and touching. A specific incident listed occurred in early 2008, when the female server was only 17 years old. According to the EEOC release, male managers also allegedly subjected other female employees to “a campaign” of inappropriate behavior.

The lawsuit claims male managers allegedly detained the server who filed the original complaint in a restaurant office and turned out the lights. The female quit following the alleged incident because she feared for her safety. This is was in commonly referred to as constructive discharge.

“We received the charge of discrimination from a young woman who worked there and who claimed that she and other young female employees were subjected to sexual harassment,” said Baran, who was unable to say how many workers were allegedly harassed or if they were all minors at the time.

Krista Stephenson claimed she was sexually harassed by Veterans Affairs ("VA") center director Craig Howard while she worked for him as staff assistant. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed a lawsuit on her behalf and the Department of Veterans Affairs agreed to settle the sexual harassment lawsuit for $25,000.

In cases like this many times the parties will reach a voluntary settlement rather than risk a lengthy discovery process and the prospect of trial. At trial the amount awarded could be high or there could be no award at all. By reaching a settlement both parties can contain costs and Stephenson is guaranteed money--while also feeling vindicated by making the VA pay.

Dan Ryan, spokesman for the Canandaigua VA, declined to comment other than to issue a statement saying: “VA personnel matters are confidential by regulation.”

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") claims including a retaliation charge rose 23% in the year ended Sept. 30, 2008. The EEOC says more than a third of all claims filed with the agency have claims involving retaliation. Claims that didn't involve retaliation rose 12% during the same period. EEOC officials cite several reasons for the increase in retaliation claims. Due to the tough economy many employees feel slighted at being laid off or fired. Additionally, many companies are firing workers who complain because there are so many workers willing to take the employees job due to the tough job market. This is one instance where the squeaky wheel doesn't get the oil but gets the boot.

Retaliation is easier to prove than discrimination involving sexual harassment, or based on other forms of discrimination especially since a 2006 Supreme Court decision adopted a broader definition of retaliation. Many times a claim filed by the EEOC will have both a discrimination claim and retaliation claim. For example, an employee who is sexually harassed at work will report the harassment and then get fired or demoted. The employee will then file a claim with the EEOC for sexual harassment and retaliation.

M&N Equipment was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleging a woman was retaliated against after making a sexual harassment complaint against a co-worker. According to the lawsuit the women was sexual harassed while working at the compnay and complained to management about the harassment. The company not only failed to remedy the situation at work but engaged in retaliation against the women when she came forward.

The lawsuit alleges that during the four months after the woman complained about being sexually harassed the company retaliated by reducing her work hours, taking away her company car, not giving her a promised transfer, and then fired her without explanation. Then once the woman found work at another company, M&N Equipment called that company two days later and falsely maligned her work performance, resulting in her being fired by her new employer.

"It is particularly important for a woman to feel safe from retaliation when she speaks out against sexual harassment in a workplace," said Mary Jo O'Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC office. "This is precisely the reason our laws prohibit retaliation for sexual harassment complaints."

Chicken restaurant chain Seymour Zaxbys is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for sexual harassement and retaliation. According to the lawsuit two employees were sexual harassed and then complained about the sexual harassment. The same day that they complained about the sexual harassment they were both fired.

As a matter of law retaliation for complaining about sexual harassment violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII prohibits retaliating against employees who complain about alleged unlawful employment practices such as sexual harassment. In cases like this the EEOC will try to settle the case prior to filing a lawsuit. Damages which can be awarded in sexual harassment and retaliation cases include compensatory damages, punitive damages and an injunction against future discrimination. Also the company could be ordered to hire the employees back.

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.

Eman Al-Khadra, a doctor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center filed a lawsuit against the hospital and her boss Hector Wong claiming gender discrimination and sexual harassment.Al-Khadra accuses Wong of sexually harassing her beginning when she interviewed for a job at the hospital. Additionally the lawsuit alleges gender discrimination against her based on lesser pay than comparable male doctors. She also claims she was not promoted because she rejected Wong's sexual advances which is retaliation.

According to Al-Khadra, she was threatened by Wong who is a martial artist after she rejected his sexual advances. At the same time her promotion was rejected and given to another female doctor who did not reject Wong's sexual advances, according to the lawsuit. Al-Khadra claims the hospital should have known about Wong's sexual harassment and did not stop it.

Al-Khadra claims Wong and the hospital retaliated against her after she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleging sexual harassment against Wong and of the hospital.

Real estate agent Joseph H. Mancini and Mayor of Long Beach Township is being sued for sexual harassment. In the lawsuit Kymberly Oakes alleges she suffered economic losses, emotional pain and suffering and mental anguish after she rejected the sexual advances of her boss. The lawsuit states Mancini made numerous and repeated sexual advances toward Oakes who has been employed since 2006. The complaint states that Oakes began to reject the advances as she continued her employment.

The lawsuit alleges Mancini engaged in retaliation against Oakes after she rejected his advances and that Mancini used his position as her supervisor and mayor to retaliate by, threatening to accuse her of forging checks, refusing to pay Oakes commission for her work as an agent, interfering with her real estate clients and future business prospects. It is alleged he even threatened to revoke her real estate license.

"I can say it's meritorious. She has a strong case," John Sanders Oakes attorney said.

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" »

Melvine Davis filed a charge of sexual harassment against her former employer, the House of Gyros, Inc., with the Decatur Human Relations Commission in 2007. In many towns you can file a complaint with the local commission as opposed to the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("

The House of Gyros appealed the decision to the Macon County Circuit Court seeking a reversal of the Commission’s decision which the Judge did. That decision was appealed and the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the Circuit Court and reinstated the $17,400 award by the City’s Human Relations Commission.

“Our only goal with this case was to see that justice was served and we believe that it was,” said Barthelemy.

Continue reading "House Of Gyros Ordered to Pay $17,400 In Sexual Harassment Case" »

Colleen Speaker a graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi ("USM") settled her lawsuit with the school for $112,500. Speaker alleged sexual harassment from then-coach Randy Rowley. Rowley, 49, refused to talk about the matter and resigned his position from the university. The allegations included physical as well as mental sexual harassment. There aren't more specifics available at this time.

Speaker was hired as an assistant by Rowley and after she rejected his advances her position was eliminated. This would seem to be a clear case of retaliation and it is unclear if she is also filing a claim for that or if this settlement covers the alleged retaliation as well.

"I have absolutely no comment on any of that," Rowley said. "I resigned due to personal reasons."

Lindsay Gerken, 25 has been successful in her claim against Michael Ruppert and his company on her claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. The Oregon state Bureau of Labor and Industries ("BOLI") ordered Ruppert and his company to pay Gerken $127,713 in damages for the sexual harassment and retaliation. The ruling said that a continuing pattern of sexual harassment began shortly after Gerken was hired and included Ruppert coming to Gerken’s office door “wearing only his underwear and a smile.” Gerken declined Rupert’s explicit invitation to engage in a sexual relationship and was terminated the following week, which is obvious retaliation.

The Oregon BOLI is similar to the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") and is in charge of investigating claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. Cases like this are not uncommon in the work place and it is very important to take immediate action to protect your rights if you are the victim of sexual harassment.

“BOLI will not allow employers to ignore fundamental protections for workers rights,” said Brad Avakian, the state labor commissioner. “Sexual harassment of this magnitude is a brazen violation of the law.”

Continue reading "Female Employee Awarded $127,713 in Sexual Harassment Case" »

A llaw between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and a Taco Bell restaurant involving a sexual harassment lawsuit was settled for $35,000. Penn Taco will pay a group of female employees $35,000 as part of a settlement with the EEOC. Additionally the company agreed to revise its anti-discrimination policies, and provide training to supervisors and managers about Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and how it applies to sexual harassment.

The company must also post a notice of the settlement. The company is now taking steps to protect employees from unlawful sexual harassment and hopefully won't have issues arise like this in the future.

"We are pleased that Penn Taco worked with us to resolve the case," Equal Employment Opportunity Commission acting regional attorney Debra Lawrence said.

Continue reading "Taco Bell Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit for $35,000" »

Jennifer Braude a former associate at the law firm Maron Marvel Bradley and Anderson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit which is full of juicy details. There is a twist to this sexual harassment lawsuit however as the harassor is her female boss. According to court papers during the 18 months Braude was an associate at Maron Marvel Bradley & Anderson, she was subjected to a hostile work environment due to the sexually charged conversations initiated by her direct supervisor, Meredith Sossman. Sossman has since been fired and is now assistant vice president at Drexel University's Earle Mack School of Law.

The lawsuit alleges that Sossman talked about her own sexual interests, including engaging in foursomes and kissing her best female friend, who Sossman allegedly described as looking very similar to Braude. Sossman also allegedly made Braude turn around slowly when she entered the room so Sossman could see what she was wearing and made Braude's sex life the subject of discussion. Braude first file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC").

Sossman would allegedly tell Braude she was dirty hot and pressured her to go with her to a sex toys shop in Concordville, Pa., to purchase a vibrator, directing her on how to use it and instructing her to report back to Sossman in the morning after she used it.

Continue reading "Female Law Partner Sued For Sexual Harassment Of Female Associate" »

The 31-year-old woman who worked for La Pianta LLC, which does business as Frenchman Hills Vineyard is suing her former employer for sexual harassment. She is represented by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). She claims her manager engaged in malicious and reckless conduct related to sexual harassment. THe EEOC will file a lawsuit on behalf of a claimant if they believe there is enough information and evidence to succeed.

William Tamayo, an EEOC lawyer based in San Francisco, said the alleged sexual harassment began in May 2008, shortly after the woman began working at the vineyard. He said it lasted three months and ended when the woman quit because of the sexual harassment.

"Sexual harassment is not something that should be a condition of work," Tamayo said,, adding, "Some of the harassers prey on these women in desperate situations."

Two brothers, Paul Martinez, 57, and John Martinez, 56 who own Arvada Mexican restaurant are being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for sexual harassment of a 16-year-old employee, April Wyatt-now an adult. The two brothers are accused of physical and verbal sexual harassment and then retaliation when they fired the female employee after she complained of the sexual harassment.

According to the lawsuit starting in 2003 and ending in 2006, Paul Martinez repeatedly groped Wyatt by grabbing her backside, crotch and breast; pulled her underwear; and stuck his fingers in her mouth when she yawned. Martinez also shared inappropriate jokes and comments with Wyatt. By the end of 2006 Wyatt could no longer take the sexual harassment and complained. She was fired shortly thereafter which is retaliation.

“The conduct alleged here is reprehensible,” Stuart J. Ishimaru, acting chairman of the EEOC, said in a statement. “The harassment was compounded by the retaliation against a teenager who sought to complain about her illegal treatment.

Continue reading "Restaurant Sued For Sexual Harassment Of Minor" »

Tomayo Financial Services, based in Chicago Illinois was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for sexual harassment and retaliation. Tomayo has four offices in Chicago and is a mortgage lending organization. According to the lawsuit female employees were sexually harassed and subjected to retaliation when they complained about the sexual harassment.

The EEOC claims numerous men employed at Tomayo, including executives, were part of continuous and widespread sexual harassment of women. The men referred to women with sexual epithets, engaged in threatening physical and verbal sexual conduct. The women reported the sexual harassment but nothing was done by Tomayo to stop the conduct and it only increased.

John Hendrickson, EEOC regional attorney for the Chicago District, said, “It does not matter what industry is involved—whether it’s automobiles, household products, mortgages—sexual harassment and retaliation are non-starters from both a business and a legal perspective.

Continue reading "Chicago's Tomayo Financial Services Sued 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?" »

Hilltown Packing is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for sexual harassment and retaliation. It all started when Filomena Ruelas who packed broccoli in the fields for the company between 1999 and 2005, faced sexual comments, propositions and touching from her supervisor. After reporting the behavior to management, she was not called back to work the next season, the suit says.

In cases like this many times the employer is not interested in helping to stop the sexual harassment because they are only interested in making money. Anyone who put a monkey wrench into the money makeing maching is deemed a trouble maker and retaliated against.

"All I wanted to do is work in peace and help support my family," Ruelas said.

Castle Chevrolet has been sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for sexual harassment alleging the Chicago auto dealer's female customers were called dingbats and female employees were routinely called obscene epithets. The lawsuit alleges principals in the dealership made sexually hostile, abusive and threatening remarks to female employees and groped them.

According to the lawsuit once the female employees complained about the sexual harassment the dealership did nothing to change its conduct. Castle Chevrolet general manager Bob Politza is denying the allegations, saying the company has "a very strict" policy against sexual harassment.

EEOC regional attorney John Hendrickson said in a statement Wednesday it was amazing that at a time when the auto industry is struggling for survival and women exercise so much influence in the marketplace that anyone would in engage in sexual harassment or show contempt for female customers.

Continue reading "EEOC Sues Chicago Auto Dealer Over Sexual Harassment" »

Adams Brothers Farming Inc. is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of Yareli Uriostegui claiming sexual harassment and retaliation. According to the lawsuit Uriostegui was subjected to repeated sexual harassment and she complained about it to management which did nothing to stop the sexual harassment. Shortly after complaining about the sexual harassment Uriostegui was fired by Adams Brothers Farming Inc. which the EEOC claims is retaliation for reporting the sexual harassment.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court and claims a foreman touched Uriostegui sexually many times and also verbally harassed her in a sexual nature. When Uriostegui complained, she was written up for poor performance and fired two weeks later. The EEOC is seeking compensatory damages, back pay, punitive damages and other injunctive relief.

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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" »

UPS settles a lawsuit involving Joanne Nijem who was represented by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for $120,000. Nijem also alleged that UPS engaged in retaliation once she reported the sexual harassment. Nijem was the only female employee at the facility and alleged she was subjected almost daily to insults and criticisms in front of coworkers and customers, and when she reported the sexual harassment to the company hotline and the regional director, she was terminated a week later--which in Illinois is retaliation.

As in most cases like this UPS denied it did anyting wrong. As part of the settlement UPS will provide training to management and human resources officials who fired Nijem and agreed to maintain an anti-harassment policy and post it so employees can see it. When you look at the amount of money UPS had to pay on a case like this it makes you wonder what supervisors are thinking when they engage in such behavior.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Settles For $120,000 Between UPS and EEOC" »

Sharon Januszewski a female firefighter in Oaklawn since 2000 had alleged sexual harassment in the firehouse and was forced to file a lawsuit after nothing was done to settle her claim. Januszewski and the village settled the claim for $850,000 plus she retains her position as a firefighter. In a time when budgets are being stretched and positions eliminated due to the bad economy you can see how important it is to have a harassment free work zone.

In the lawsuit Januszewski alleged sexual harassment by her male colleagues in the fire department, specifically that a firefighter ejaculated on her bedding at a firehouse and that pornography was found in the open and on display throughout a fire station. Januszewsky alleged village officials didn't do enough to investigate the incidents of sexual harassment once she reported it. Taking prompt action from the very start may have saved the village a great deal of money. Aside from the $850,000 paid to Januszewksi, I am sure a large amount of money was given to attorneys working for the village to defend the claim.

Continue reading "Firefighter Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit For $850,000" »

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" »

Now that the economy is doing poorly many employees who are being terminated or demoted are filing sexual harassment claims. One reason for the claims is that employee were putting up with poor behavior in order to keep their jobs. Since they no longer have their job, the see no reason to keep this behavior to themselves. Aside from the cost of settling the sexual harassment cases, companies also have to spend money defending them. The example below shows how much the town of Seaside spend defending a sexual harassment claim.

Thirty year old police reserve officer Vanessa Alcaraz filed a sexual harassment claim with the city against then-Sgt. Barry Pasquarosa. This is a pretty routine case and there does not seem to be anything unique about the facts. To date the city has spent $77,000 on investigation costs and $190,000 on attorney fees. The case isn't even to trial yet and look at the amounts of money that are being spent. According to the Monterey County Herald, City Manager Ray Corpuz said

"We have a duty to investigate, we have a duty to defend (ourselves), and there are our own personnel and human resource policies. Particularly in this case, we have to follow ... state law," he said. "The city has no choice but to respond to these claims."

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Case Expensive For Companies" »

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") released its' report for 2008 and it shwos there were 16,752 complaints alleging employment discrimination– up 2.4 percent from the prior year. These complaints are allegations against government agencies only and do not include complaints against private companies. The complaints were filed against federal agencies on the basis of retaliation, gender, race, national origin, religion and age.

Other interesting statistics in the report include of 7,538 cases closed on the merits, 2.5% resulted in findings of unlawful discrimination. Both parties entered into settlements in 19.5 % or 3,249 complaints. Agencies awarded a total of over $50 million in monetary benefits to complainants for unlawful discrimination.

“Federal agencies must step up their efforts to improve complaint processing time, while also focusing on quality results,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “

Continue reading "EEOC Report Shows Increase in Discrimination Lawsuits" »

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" »

Dave's supermarket has been hit with a federal lawsuit regarding sexual harassment. In Cleveland the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed a lawsuit claiming the supermarket violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting female employees to sexual harassment. According to the lawsuit a department manager subjected women to egregious sexual harassment including asking the woman for sex and groping.

According to court papers once the top tier of management became aware of the sexual harassment and the manager's behavior the top group of management at the supermarket did nothing to stop it and allowed it to continue. Damages from sexual harassment include lost pay, future pay, emotional distress damage, attorney fees, and punitive damages. There seems to be an increase in sexual harassment cases this year probablly due to the problems with the economy.

"We continue to see an increase in the number of harassment complaints, however, this was one of many instances when the employer could have taken steps to prevent it from ever happening," said EEOC Acting Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence.

Continue reading "Dave's Supermarket Sued For Sexual Harassment" »

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" »

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") Office of Federal Operations awarded Department of Interior employee Celeste Gray $149,459 to settle her sexual harassment lawsuit. According to the lawsuit over a period of two years Gray's supervisor would call her into his office to pick up trash off the floor in front of his desk so he could view her tell her that there was nothing he did not know about a woman's body and call her breasts the girls.

As a result of the sexual harassment Gray's weight increased dramatically to make herself less attractive to the supervisor. Gray also suffered from anxiety, nightmares, sleep disorder and was under the care of a psychologist. Gray received $100,000 emotional distress, $43,359 for past and future medical expenses and a $6,100 tax enhancement to offset the future medical expenses.

As an example of the kind of sexual harassment Gray endured, when she was going out of town, her supervisor in a sexual gesture said, "I hope you don't give up nothing,"

Continue reading "Department of Interior Ordered To Pay $149,459 In Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

Four female doctors alleged sexual harassment by Medical Superintendent Dr. Vinod Kumar of Gandhi Nagar Hospital. Some inside the hospital believe the sexual harassment complaint was filed because the hospital and in particular Dr. Kumar have been very strict with the doctors regarding employment issues. To date not many facts have been alleged and both sides seem to be keeping tight lipped.

In Illinois allegations of sexual harassment must be filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The complaint must be filed within 180 days and 300 days respectively. It is very important to speak with an attorney early to make sure you don't miss those important periods.

“We don’t believe that Dr Vinod can do such an act” an old female employee of the Hospital on the condition of anonymity.

Continue reading "Four Female Doctors Sue Hospital For Sexual Harassment" »

Former borough police dispatcher Brittany Kane filed a sexual harassment lawsuit alleging she was terminated after she said patrol officer Travis Allie sexually harassed her. According to the lawsuit Kane was repeatedly sexually harassed by Allie, including obtaining Kane's phone number without her permission, sending her messages claiming they engaged in sexual activity, making inappropriate remarks about her appearance, and at least once touching her inappropriately.

The lawsuit also alleges Allie became increasingly hostile toward her when Kane rejected his advances. Four days after she met with Lt. David Dudeck to change her schedule to avoid Allie, Kane was fired, which is proven would constitute retaliation. Township administrator Robert Bruschi told the Times of Trenton Kane was fired for unsatisfactory job performance.

Continue reading "Police Dispatcher Sues For Sexual Harassment" »

A Taxi's Restaurant worker, Joanne Cole was was sexually assualted by a male co-worker who used hot dogs in lewd gestures simulating fornication and she was bitten by the co-worker until she bled. The lawsuit by Cole alleges sexual harassment, sexual assault, discrimination and retaliation. The lawsuit alleges that while she worked for Taxi’s Hamburgers in Dublin California, she was subjected to ongoing sexual harassment, sexual assault and discrimination, and upon complaining of the unlawful behavior, nothing was done.

The lawsuit alleges that a Taxi’s supervisor directly observed Joanne Cole being assaulted by another co-worker who was by biting her lips and back while she fought him off telling him to stop. The supervisor did nothing after seeing the assault occur and instead turned his attention back to the television program he was watching.

The allegations state that Ms. Cole was subjected to lewd and lascivious gestures by other male employees including gesturing to their penises to simulate masturbation and holding a hotdog to their lower extremities as if it was a penis and gesturing to female employees. Ms. Cole was also repeatedly bitten on the lips and back by another male co-worker. Taxi’s Hamburgers took no action. Officers from the Dublin police department ultimately arrested the former co-worker.

Continue reading "Restaurant Worker Sues For Sexual Harassment After Hot Dog Used in Lewd Gesture" »

Nurse One Team One is the subject of a federal lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of 25 former nurses who claim a patient sexually harassed them. According to the sexual harassment lawsuit, they claim a client inappropriately touched, groped and made sexual requests of them. The lawsuit alleges that man requested that only female certified nursing assistants provide his care.

The lawsuit alleges that Nurse One Team One ignored at least 25 written complaints of sexual harassment from that male client. EEOC attorneys said the company even retaliated against one of the CNA's by firing her because the woman refused to apologize to that male client for warning a fellow co-worker about her experience with him. The lawsuit asks for unspecified amount including back wages, compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief.

"There is no excuse for knowingly and repeatedly subjecting female employees to a sexually hostile and abusive work environment," said Katharine Kores, EEOC Memphis district office director.

Kacie Chambers filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Marshall's Board of Governors and former cheerleading coach Donna Dunn alleging she was repeatedly harassed by several members of the cheerleading squad during her first and other year there in 2005. The harassment included allegations of male members of the squad exposing themselves, rubbing their private parts in the female members' faces and calling the females derogatory names.

Chambers' suit specifically singled out head male cheerleader Richard Edmunds whom she alleged pulled down her sports bra and instructed her "not to be a bitch or she would find her ass hitting the ground." The repeated harassment, which Chambers alleges Dunn ignored, resulted in her quitting the squad before completing her freshman year in 2005-2006, and to lose the scholarship she was awarded.

In both their replies to Chambers' suit, and during the trial, both Dunn and Marshall University officials maintained that they took the proper steps to address her allegations when they were first raised including removing Edmonds from the squad. In the end the jury did not believe them and ruled in favor or Chambers awarding her $25,000.

"I'm really glad my story is out there," Chambers said. "I'm really glad I stood up for what I believed."

In Illinois the number of sexual harssment cases seems to be on the rise, at least from my perspective. With the downturn in the economy, many once loyal employees who put up with a lot of harassment now don't feel that same loyalty towards the company and are fighting back.

In Fiscal Year 2008, EEOC received 13,867 charges of sexual harassment. 15.9% of those charges were filed by males. EEOC resolved 11,731 sexual harassment charges in FY 2008 and recovered $47.4 million in monetary benefits for charging parties and other aggrieved individuals (not including monetary benefits obtained through litigation).

There are strict time limits for filing a charge of sexual harassment in Illinois and once that time limit expires, no relief is available. There is a 180 day and 300 day limit for filing a charge of sexual harassment with the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission respectively. Many times settlements are possible either prior to filing the charge or once the charge is filed. An experienced lawyer can help you with this process. It is better to get the lawyer involved early in the process to increase the chances of success.

Taco Bell Corporation will pay $350,000 to two young women to resolve a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The lawsuit alleged that Terence E. Davis, a former manager at Taco Bell, sexually assaulted a 16-year-old female employee on her first day of work. The EEOC said Davis sexually assaulted the young woman on the work premises and then tried to follow her as she fled home. The EEOC also uncovered evidence during discovery that Davis had forcibly raped another 16-year-old female employee just five months earlier.

This type of workplace misconduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination, including sexual assaults as the most egregious forms of sexual harassment. The EEOC filed suit against Irvine, Calif.-based Taco Bell Corporation after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement. Davis pled guilty in 2009 to raping both women and is currently serving two concurrent eight-year prison terms.

“Sexual harassment is always unconscionable, but this situation was especially so, given the extreme nature of the assaults and the youth and vulnerability of the victims,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru.

Continue reading "Taco Bell Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit With EEOC For $350,000" »

The Waterford Township Police Department was sued again for sexual harassment. Arlene Hampton filed the lawsuit containing two claims of sexual harassment alleging she was sexually harassed by male police department employees and subsequently suffered retaliation for complaining about it. The lawsuit comes eight months after the township paid a $325,000 settlement to police department clerk Penny Dye to settle her sexual harassment lawsuit.

Lt. Jim Lalone was named as the defendant in both Hampton's and Dye's lawsuits. Hampton alleges Lalone repeatedly commented on her body, legs, and mode of dress, and on occasion told her she dressed like a whore. Lalone allegedly told another male officer he planned to have sexual relations with Hampton. Despite Hampton's appeals to her supervisor and the township's attorney to investigate alleged sexual harassment targeting not only her but female co-workers, the harassment allegedly continued.

According to the lawsuit she was repeatedly sexually harassed by Lalone, who referred to women within the department as "tits" rather than calling them individually by name, according to the lawsuit. He allegedly referred to the department's female employees collectively as the "bra brigade," or the "bra corps."

Continue reading "Waterford Police Department Sued Again For Sexual Harassment" »

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.

Nassau County was ordered to pay $604,589 to Patricia Luca in salary differential to a correction officer barred from becoming a police officer in retaliation for a previous sexual harassment lawsuit she filed. This amount was affirmed by the appellate court however the appellate court did give the county the chance to reargue in the U.S. District Court whether nearly $200,000 in attorney fees and costs should be awarded to the lawyer who represented Patricia Luca of East Meadow in the case.

Luca, 40, had been a correction officer more than four years when she filed her sexual harassment lawsuit in 2000 alleging that she was sexually harassed at the Nassau County Jail in East Meadow as the result of a in-house seminar on cultural diversity. She said a fictitious "scenario" that was distributed and used her name had embarrassed and humiliated her and made her the butt of lewd comments from many of her colleagues, destroying her self-esteem and career. She took a settlement offer in mid-2003.

In 1994 Luca placed 20th among hundreds of applicants on the police civil service exam given but in 2003 she was told that she was a "non-select" candidate on the certified Civil Service List and did not place in the incoming Nassau County Police Academy that began in early 2004. She filed the current lawsuit, saying that because of the previous one she was harassed by police officers investigating her background. She added that because she was a "non-select" on the Civil Service List, she was also rejected by several village police departments.

"The county was extremely disappointed in the opinion. We are considering our options," said Nassau County Attorney Lorna Goodman.

Continue reading "Nassau County Ordered to Pay $604,589 after Losing Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit" »

Former Zimmer-man city administrator, Gregory LaFond, and Sherburne County settled a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit for $15,000. However, although LaFond is getting $15,000 from the county, in a cross-claim, LaFond must pay Deputy Michele Vlasak $12,000 to settle her claim against him. This is a long way from the $11.9 million LaFond was seeking.
In September 2007 LaFond filed suit against the county, former Sheriff Bruce Anderson, County Attorney Kathleen Heaney and Deputy Michele Vlasak, as well as other unnamed individuals.

In his lawsuit, LaFond accused the county of conspiring against him due to his work with the city of Zimmerman in negotiating the law enforcement contract between the city and county, as well as other duties with the sheriff’s department. LaFond claimed Anderson tarnished his reputation when he questioned the rising costs of the sheriff’s department in Zimmerman. LaFond also claimed Vlasak, whose duties were assigned to Zimmerman, conspired to assist in this retaliation by bringing a sexual harassment allegation against LaFond.

According to the Star News, Vlasak filed suit against LaFond, asserting a counterclaim that he had defamed her in claiming the harassment allegations were baseless and part of a conspiracy. In the end, the claims against all of the individual defendants were dismissed as part of the settlement. However, Anderson said, based on the estimates of another $60,000 to $100,000 it would have taken in defending the case, and the disruption of services to the public, just settling the case seemed appropriate.

“In our opinion resolving a complaint asking for a total of $11.9 million dollars in damages for a payment of $15,000 to Mr. LaFond, while at the same time Mr. LaFond has a payment made on his behalf of $12,000 to Deputy Vlasak, was not only reasonable, but in the interest of the public,” Anderson said.

Lowe's settled a retaliation and sexual harassment discrimination lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for $1.72 million and significant remedial relief on behalf of three employees in their twenties who were subjected to a pervasive sexually hostile work environment and retaliated against for complaining about it. The former employees, two young men and one woman, were subjected to widespread and repeated sexual harassment by male and female managers and coworkers at a Lowe’s store in Longview, Wash., according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The hostile work environment, which endured for more than six months, included physical and verbal abuse which culminated in one instance of sexual assault.

Among the many allegations in the lawsuit a female employee, age 21 at the time, was sexually assaulted by the 44-year-old male store manager in his office. Prior to the alleged assault, the EEOC said she was implicitly propositioned for sex by the manager related to a recent promotion she received. EEOC asserted that Lowe’s not only failed to take prompt remedial action to stop the sexual harassment, but also fired the three victims in the case. Retaliation occurs when an employee is fired for refusing or reporting sexual harassment.

“Corporate America should be on notice that sexual harassment and retaliation will not be tolerated by the EEOC,” said Commission Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “In this case, severe sex-based harassment of young workers was permitted to run rampant at one of the nation’s largest retailers. It is shocking that Lowe’s store managers actively engaged in, and even encouraged, such blatant unlawful conduct and then retaliated against the victims for objecting to it.”

Continue reading "Lowe's Pays $1.72 Million To Settle Retaliation and Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

A jury took less than three hours today to decide that Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White made unwanted sexual advances toward his former 24-year-old aide Alyssa Ogden, then fired her because she rejected those advances. Ogden was awarded $15,000 for past and future medical bills and $60,000 for pain and anguish. The county spent more than $100,000 to defend the sexual harassment lawsuit.

The verdict wound up a five-day trial which centered largely on a 2007 trip to Atlanta. During that trip Ogden alleges that White came to her hotel room at 2 a.m. and tried to have sex with her. Ogden alleged that White planned the trip to try and have sex with her. When Ogden refused to have sex she was subjected to retaliation by being terminated. White's former friend and political supporter, C. Blythe Andrews Jr., denied the commissioner's story that he arranged Ogden's trip to Atlanta at Andrews' request. Ogden says White asked her on the Atlanta trip, then tried to have sex with her there. The commissioner's uncle, Andre Moses White, first supported White's claim that he stayed at his uncle's house the night Ogden said the commissioner tried to sleep with her in an Atlanta hotel room. But the uncle later recanted the statement, saying his mind had been muddled by medications.

County Commissioner Rose Ferlita called the verdict "embarrassing" for taxpayers struggling with their own economic problems who must now shoulder legal fees.

Wilcox Farms, which operates dairy and egg production facilities in Oregon and Washington, will pay $260,000 and provide remedial relief to settle a federal sexual harassment and retaliation suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The lawsuit alleged that a male supervisor repeatedly grabbed, sought to forcibly undress and propositioned Wilcox Farms employee Diana Dominguez at its Aurora, Ore., facility. According to the federal agency’s investigation, the sexual harassment continued over many months despite Dominguez’s complaints to management, to the point where she began to fear for her physical safety. The EEOC found that Wilcox retaliated against Dominguez for reporting the harassment by isolating her from co-workers, forcing her to continue to work with the harasser and pressuring her to resign. Dominguez ultimately was forced to quit out of fear for her safety-which meets the legal definition of retaliation.

Under the terms of the consent decree settling the suit, Wilcox Farms denied any wrongdoing but will pay Dominguez $260,000. The company also agreed to adopt and to distribute to all employees a sexual harassment policy written in both English and Spanish; make its complaint procedures more convenient for employees to report harassment and retaliation; conduct sexual harassment training in English and Spanish for all managers, supervisors and employees; and to provide various reports to the EEOC over a three-year period.

EEOC Regional Attorney William R. Tamayo said, "This case involved a supervisor’s serious abuse of power over a female employee. Employers must take every report of harassment seriously. They shouldn’t dismiss such behavior as ‘the cost of doing business’ or ignore problems in hopes that they will go away. The law requires them to quickly and effectively respond to such complaints. Sexual harassment in the workplace is illegal – no one should be required to work in a hostile environment.”

Continue reading "Wilcox Farm Pays $260,000 to Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

PetSmart, Inc., the nation’s leading retailer of services and products for pets, agreed to pay $125,000 and furnish significant equitable relief to resolve a federal sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). According to the lawsuit female employees were subjected to unwelcome sexual harassment by a store manager. The store manager’s sexually offensive conduct and comments included repeatedly grabbing his genitals while talking to female employees and making explicit sexual comments and sexual innuendoes.

PetSmart not only failed to take prompt and effective action to stop the sexual harassment but engaged in unlawful retaliation against a female manager after she complained. The store manager allegedly yelled at the woman, belittled her in front of subordinates, followed her around the store and disciplined her despite her good job performance. As a result of the unrelenting harassment and unwarranted retaliation, the EEOC said, she was forced to quit her job. In additional to the cash settlement, PetSmart agreed to mandatory EEO training of all managers, supervisors and employees about employee rights and employer obligations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“We filed this lawsuit because all employees have the right to complain about sexual harassment without suffering unlawful reprisals,” said EEOC Acting Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence. “We are pleased that the parties were able to resolve this matter and that PetSmart agreed to a variety of corrective measures designed to prevent future problems in the workplace.”

Continue reading "PetSmart Throws Bone To EEOC and Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit For $125,000" »

Brand Energy Solutions, L.L.C. which operates Texas refineries will pay $175,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ('EEOC"). The EEOC said that an operations manager employed by Brand at a Corpus Christi refinery sexually harassed a female timekeeper whom he supervised. The sexual harassment included subjecting her to repeated unwelcome physical contact, sexual advances and comments; placing lurid images on her work computer; and threatening and intimidating behavior such as throwing objects at her and locking her in a trailer.

According to the suit, the woman was forced to quit her job when Brand Scaffold failed to take prompt and appropriate remedial action to address the harassment, as the law requires. Further, the EEOC charged, Brand retaliated against the woman for complaining about the abuse. After she complained to management she was removed from her work site, placed directly in the harasser's office and was shunned by the other employees. She was told by co-workers and at least one Brand manager that whistleblowers never keep their jobs. This is a form of retaliation. Once an employee complains of discrimination and employer may not take disciplinary action against the employee.

“The law requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent such sexual harassment,” said David Rivela, senior trial attorney of the EEOC’s San Antonio Field Office. “We will continue to actively prosecute cases where employees are subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace. We are glad that Brand was willing to resolve this matter.”

Continue reading "Brand Energy Solutions Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit For $175,000" »

Under the Illinois Human Rights Act 775 ILCS 5/2-102(D)), sexual harassment in Illinois is any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other conduct of a sexual nature is sexual harassment when:
1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment;
2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for an employment decision affecting such individual; or
3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the employee’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

There are two basic types of sexual harassment: Hostile Work Environment and Quid Pro Quo.

A hostile work environment is created when unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other type of conduct of a sexual nature that is intimidating, offensive or hostile substantially interferes with a person’s work performance. Examples of hostile environment sexual harassment, include, but are not limited to: unwanted deliberate or repeated sexual behavior; sexually suggestive objects, signs, or pictures; unwelcome sexual gestures, touching, or pinching; sexual innuendos or stories; unwelcome hugging, kissing, patting, or stroking; unwelcome sexual teasing, telephone calls, or materials of a sexual nature.

Quid pro quo means “something for something”. Quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs when submission to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or any conduct of a sexual nature is made, explicitly or implicitly, a condition of employment or promotion. Examples of quid pro quo sexual harassment include, but are not limited to: suggesting to an individual that it is possible to be hired, promoted, or be advanced in the job if that person allows sexual favors; asking a person to submit to unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors as a condition of hiring, promotion, or advancement in the job; denying hire, promotion, or advancement in the job because the person has refused dates, sexual advances, or requests for sexual favors.

Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution ("ADR"), which is an alternative to litigation. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") offers mediation free to people who file complaints with the agency. There are good reason to select mediation and also reasons against. On the EEOC's website the following is listed as reasons to select mediation:
-It's free
- It's fair and neutral as the parties have an equal say in the process and decide settlement terms, not the mediator. There is no determination of guilt or innocence in the process.
-it saves time and money as mediation usually occurs early in the charge process, and many mediations are completed in one meeting. Legal or other representation is optional but not required.
-It's confidential as the EEOC requires that all parties sign a confidentiality agreement. Information disclosed during mediation will not be revealed to anyone, including other EEOC investigative or legal staff.

There are a few reason not to select mediation however.
First, by avoiding litigation, the company is the one really saving money and thus the savings is given to them. The EEOC will investigate your charge for free and the company has to pay an attorney to defend the charge of discrimination.

Second, many facts don't come out in mediation because there has not been an opportunity to fully discover evidence the other side may have. Therefore, a complainant may be settling a claim without knowing all the facts and may have a much better case in reality than they realize.

Lastly, during mediation the complainant lays out his case and the employer has an opportunity to hear the entire case and therefore if the parties can't come to an agreement, the employer can draft their defense based on hearing the entire case.

Continue reading "EEOC and Mediation" »

Arthur Burton the owner of a Kettering apartment complex in Ohio was ordered to pay a total of $244,000 to a young woman who was an employee and tenant. According to the sexual harassment lawsuit, Burton asked the young woman about her sex life, about when she last had it, and most persistently, whether she would have sex with him. She always said no. According to the lawsuit, this all started when the woman was 20 and moved into the apartment. The apartment door had been kicked in, and Burton came by to fix it. During the week she lived there, he never finished the job. Instead, he asked her questions about herself. Soon, he was propositioning her for sex.

According to the lawsuit the woman came to his apartment to work on his computer, and Burton had pornography playing on the television. She reported this harassment to the police and they said this was a he said, she said and she needed evidence. She hid a digital recorder in her bra and recorded their future conversations. The transcript of her conversations with Burton, made on April 13, 2007, runs nearly 150 pages. It contains much mundane conversation about Burton’s business, but the topic of sex keeps returning. Burton tells her she turns him on. He asks her if she is attracted to him. He repeatedly propositions her. Some of his conversations could be seen as vailed threats of retaliation.

"You’re probably a sexual dynamo, aren’t you?” he asked. “I ain’t going to answer that question,” she replied, according to a transcript of a conversation she secretly taped.

The woman mentions several times that she was offended that he offered to pay her for sex. Burton explains repeatedly that he didn’t want her to lose money for sex with him during working hours. In Illinois it is illegal to tape a conversation without the consent of both parties or without a court order as Illinois is one of twelve states that require all party consent.

Continue reading "Apartment Owner Ordered to Pay $244,000 in Sexual Harassment Case" »

Calvin Young was awarded $85,000 in a sexual harassment lawsuit against his former employer, the Golden Corral restaurant on U.S. 19. According to the allegations in the lawsuit, Young worked there for about a month in 2006 and claimed that two gay male co-workers pestered him on a near-daily basis with lewd remarks and pressed up against his body, forcing him into a "sandwich." He complained to two managers and they did nothing about it. Instead the company fired Young for what it called job performance problems, but Young claims it was in retaliation for complaining about the sexual harassment.

Young and three other restaurant employees, Kenneth Vaughn, Dawn Haschalk and Pamela Gause, filed lawsuits against Sunny Corral, the Dallas-based franchise owner. Young claimed that he was sexually harassed and fired in retaliation for complaining about it. The jury found in favor of Young on all three counts, and awarded him $20,000 in back pay, $5,000 for pain and suffering, $60,000 in punitive damages. The other cases are pending.

In many sexual harassment cases, once an employee complains of harassment, the company engages in retaliation by writing up the employee for any perceived infraction and uses that as a basis to terminate the employee.

"I'm so glad that justice prevailed," Young said in an interview Monday. "It's so easy to defend a case instead of prove it."

Hometown Buffer settled a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision ("EEOC") for $710,000. The EEOC alleged Hometown Buffet failed to prevent and tolerated a pattern of ongoing sexual harassment in which male managers, supervisors, and co-workers subjected female employees to a sexually hostile workplace, including groping, hugging, kissing, sexual advances, and stalking employees outside the workplace. One female victim was allegedly raped by a male co-worker. The EEOC further alleged that due to the female employees’ young age and/or lack of English proficiency, a breakdown in the company’s complaint process failed to adequately remedy the sexual harassment.

In addition to a monetary settlement of $710,000, the two-year consent decree resolving the matter will also ensure the implementation of measures to prevent and remedy sexual harassment at the company’s El Cajon location. These measures include annual training for employees, managers, and supervisors regarding sexual harassment and retaliation; a formal complaint procedure with close tracking of any future complaints; and, providing annual reports to the EEOC regarding future complaints and remedial action.

"Sexual assaults are increasingly becoming more commonplace in sexual harassment cases,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Anna Y. Park of the agency’s Los Angeles District Office. “During this economic downturn, it is more important than ever for employers to actively ensure a workplace free of hostility. What may appear to be a short term gain by cutting out training on EEO laws, may result in long term cost to a company if claims of discrimination are not actively prevented or corrected.”

Carl Sassaman was accused by a female co-worker of sexual harassment. Sassaman's boss conducted a very limited investigation which turned into a he-said,she-said as both partys claimed the other was lying. Sassaman's boss took not further investigation and assumed Sassaman had sexually harassed the co-worker and told him to either resign or he would be fired. Sassaman instead filed a discrimination lawsuit, Sassaman v. Gamache, claiming his rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were violated.

The original lawsuit was dismissed by the Court however, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned that dismissal and remanded the case for further trial. The 2nd Circuit said that jurors could reasonably draw an inference of discriminatory intent if they accepted Sassaman's combined allegations that his boss suggested men are apt to sexually harass their co-workers and that the employer failed to properly investigate the alleged harassment.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), men generated 15.9% of sexual harassment complaints filed in 2008. The majority of those complaints were men complaining about sexual harassment by other men.

The Flordia State Attorney’s Office settled three sexual harassment lawsuits for $75,000 each for a total of $225,000. The three women, Brenda Keys, Gena Duncan and Barbara Chase alleged that former State Attorney Steve Meadows sexually harassed and retaliated against them because of their complaints. Meadows is no longer the State's attorney as he was defeated in last Novembers election.

Keys’ and Duncan’s claims were investigated by the Florda State Human Relations Commission ("FSHRC") last year, which found evidence to support their allegations and cleared the way for the lawsuits to be filed. The commission’s investigative report mentioned Chase, which allowed her to also file her own lawsuit. The FSHRC is analagous to the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") in that it investigates claims of employment discrimination and determines if there is substantial evidence to allow the employee to file with either the state court or Illinois Human Rights Commission for trial.

“We looked at the individual claims, the HRC report and things we learned as we were investigating these claims,” Hess said. “We felt that the claim of a sexually oppressive workplace was going to be difficult to defend. We reached a settlement that we felt was fair to those women in the harassment claims and which we could live with.”

Continue reading "Florida Settles Three Sexual Harassment Lawsuits For $225,000" »

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 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and electrical contractor T&D Electric Company of Burlington, N.C., agreed to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit for $175,674. The lawsuit EEOC v. T&D Electric Company of Burlington, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:06cv808, alleged that Tammy Holt and a class of female employees at T&D Electric were subjected to sexual comments, including remarkds about their bodies, clothing, sex acts and touching by the company's co-owner / president.

The alleged T & D Electric knew about the sexual harassment and failed to stop it and that as a result of the sexual harassment, several women were forced to quit their jobs. Sexual harassment in the workplace violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement with the company to eliminate these discriminatory practices.

"Sexual harassment by a company owner is especially egregious," said Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for the agency's Charlotte District Office. "Employers have an obligation under federal law to ensure a work environment free from illegal harassment, to promptly investigate complaints, and to take appropriate corrective measures to stop this misconduct."

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.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed a lawsuit against Ashley Furniture also known as Phil Vinar Furniture Inc., in Moline Illinois alleging Ashley's discriminated against employees and job applicants in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"). The lawsuit involves approximately 30 to 35 people including employees and job applicants.The lawsuit alleges Ashley's discriminated against Jacqueline Foster because of sexual harassment and also violated the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") by harassing Foster because of her disability and by refusing to provide her with a reasonable accommodation. The EEOC says Ashleys's retaliated against her and others for complaining about sexual harassment.

The lawsuit claims Ashley's engaged in racial and national origin discriminated against a class of African-American and Hispanic applicants by refusing to hire them because of their race and national origin. There is also an allegation that Ashley's violated the record keeping provision of Title VII by not keeping proper records of applicant and employees races and national origin.

The EEOC office in Chicago files about 30 cases of discrimination a year in Illinois.

The EEOC claims Ashleys violated the ADA by denying Foster and another employee health insurance benefits because of their disabilities, that the store engaged in retaliation against Foster in violation of the ADA by firing her after she engaged in protected activity and that the store violated the ADA by commingling employee medical records and personnel records.

Continue reading "EEOC Sues Ashley Furniture For Sexual Harassment, National Origin and Racial Discrimination" »

Clay County agreed to pay about $450,000 to an Deanne Cluckey an ex employee to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit that named assessor Cathy Rinehart, the County and a former worker as defendants. Cluckey 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. Cluckey claims she reported the comments to Rinehart and incident reports were filed but that Sutterfield was not disciplined.

The suit also claimed that Cluckey and other women in the office experienced gender discrimination in their compensation, travel arrangements and benefits. Earlier this year and as reported in this blog, another Clay County employee was paid $208,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit against Rinehart.

Many times a second lawsuit is filed after the first lawsuit is filed and facts become public. Other employees who were sexually harassed or otherwise discriminated against come forward and file their own claims.

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" »

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.

Text messages were utilized by two female soccer players who accused their Central Michigan Univeristy coach Mr. DiTucci, of sexual harassment in securing a $450,000 settlement. The women alleged that the coach used manipulation to carry out secret sexual relationships with them. He also sent the players inappropriate text messages, which were used to help bolster their claims and settle the claims. This was first reported in April on this blog.

The two women, senior Sarah Burns and freshman Morgan Britt, alleged that DiTucci carried out inappropriate secret sexual relationships with the two players while he was the head coach. They also alleged that he sent players inappropriate text messages, lied to his players and to university administration and manipulated his players in an effort to not get caught.

Companies like Paraben are able to pull text messagse off a cell-phone even after they have been deleted and authenticate them for use at trial. According to Wikipedia, text messaging, or texting is a colloquial term referring to the exchange of brief written messages between mobile phones, over cellular networks. If you are the victim of sexual harassment and believe you have text messages to support your claim, it is important to remember to tell your attorney even if the messages have been deleted.

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The city of San Leandro agreed to settle two sexual harassment lawsuits stemming from complaints filed in 2005 and 2006 by Starlah Burke and Jennifer Acuna against then-Police Officer Greg Cannedy and the city of San Leandro. The settlements include cash payments of $92,500 and $95,000, and a pledge to use outside investigators if similar accusations are made in the future. In addition, the council adopted a policy to have outside investigators handle any future investigations of sexual harassment complaints against on-duty officers.

Burke and Acuna filed civil lawsuits in 2007 and 2008, respectively, in U.S. District Court against the city and Cannedy, accusing Cannedy of sexual harassment and civil rights violations. The allegations include, both women claiming Cannedy touched and stalked them. Acuna said Cannedy befriended her at her job at a local gym. He then appeared at her home in August 2006, entered uninvited, and groped her. Burke said Cannedy groped her during a December 2005 traffic stop, then made unwanted sexual advances and frequently appeared in uniform near her home over a period of several months.

Continue reading "San Leandro Settles Two Sexual Harassment Lawsuits For $187,500" »

Fourteen female Hayward police officers said they had faced systematic harassment based on their gender or sexual orientation announced today the case has been settled for nearly $5 million. The lawsuit stated that women were subjected to sexual harassment and those who accepted such advances were favored for promotions, and that a rumor mill churned out demeaning stories about female officers having sexual relations with multiple men in the department, often men whose advances had been rebuffed.

Lesbian officers were seen as targets for "conversion," the suit stated. Harassment against one officer included making her privy to a videotape that showed her husband, also an officer, having sex with a dispatcher. The women claimed that those who complained about the workplace conditions were retaliated against via demotions or denial of promotion, and in four cases were fired.

Casper said the amount of the settlement indicated the insurance companies "recognized the problems the city has historically had with women being treated fairly at the police department. Close to $5 million is not an amount paid unless someone has recognized years of wrongdoing."

Continue reading "Hayward Police Department Settles Gender and Sexual Orientation Lawsuit For $5 Million" »

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") an Oregon nursery violated federal law when it allowed female employees to be severely sexually harassed and retaliated against the women and male co-workers after they reported the harassment. This is the EEOCs third such case against Oregon agricultural employers. Last October, the EEOC filed lawsuits against Scheimer Farms of Nyassa, Ore., and against Wilcox Farms, Inc., and Wilcox Dairy Farms Group in Aurora, Ore.

The EEOC’s suit charges that sexual harassment and retaliation occurred at the Molalla, Ore., facility of Willamette Tree Wholesale, which operates 140 acres of retail nursery farmland, including a garden supply store and business office. According to the federal agency’s investigation, one worker, a 38-year-old Latina, was taken to remote areas of the farm by the company foreman and raped repeatedly over several months. In addition to threatening her with termination and loss of needed income, the harasser physically coerced her with pruning shears, and made threats against her life as well as against her family. Ultimately, when she refused to be sexually assaulted yet again, she was fired.

Another Latina co-worker, age 35, faced daily sexual innuendos and propositions for sex as well as grabbing and touching. When she and her husband, who also worked there, reported sexual harassment by a crew leader, Willamette Tree failed to investigate or respond to their complaint. The EEOC alleges that the couple and her brother were terminated in retaliation for having reported and opposed sexual harassment.

“All sexual harassment isunacceptable, but what happened hereis unspeakable,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “This shows how dangerous a situation can become when employers are hostile to workers' rights andsexual harassment goes unchecked. There simply is no excuse for any employer tolerating this sort of worker abuse, and enough is enough."

Continue reading "Willamette Tree Wholesaler Sued For Sexual Harassment and Retaliation by EEOC" »

On April 16, 2009 the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Sangamon County Sheriff's Department v. The Illinois Human Rights Commission, that if any supervisor or manager sexually harasses an employee, the company is strictly liable for the sexual harassment. Previously and in federal court under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, liability was only imputed on the company if the supervisor or manager were the employees direct supersivor or manager. This case makes it easier for employees to hold a company strictly liable for sexual harassment and will make it easier for employees to prove their case.

In this case Donna Feleccia filed a sexual harassment and retaliation charge against the Sangamon County Sheriff's Department and Sgt. Ron Yanor. Sgt. Yanor was a supervisor but not Feleccia's supervisor. Feleccia filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights and then with the Illinois Human Rights Commission alleging Yanor retaliated against her because she refused to engage in sexual activity with him. She also alleged the Sangamon County Sheriff's Department created a hostile work environment after she reported the discriminatory conduct of sexual harassment and retaliation.

Continue reading "Illinois Supreme Court Expands Employer Liability In Sexual Harassment Lawsuits" »

Earlier this month, a $375,500 settlement was reached in a civil lawsuit against Harrison County Sheriff Mike Deatrick and Harrision County stemming from the sexual harassment allegations. The settlement requires the county to pay for training for sheriff's department employees, including jail officers, in an effort to avert future employment discrimination. Harrision County is in Indiana.

Under the settlement agreement also known as a consent decree, inn addition to the cash settlement, the decree would require the department to hire a federal monitor to oversee its anti-discrimination practices for a period of two years and to conduct annual equal employment opportunity.

Deanna Decker and Melissa Graham, who had worked as dispatchers, filed their initial complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") in May 2008. Decker, 39, said in the complaint that the sheriff touched her breasts on numerous occasions and once put his hands down her pants. Graham said Deatrick left sexually derogatory messages on her personal cell phone and made similar remarks in person.
In a later complaint, both women said Deatrick engaged in retaliation after the first complaint in part by staring at the women while brandishing his drawn gun.

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.

Fire Mountain Restaurants LLC, doing business as Ryan’s Family Steakhouse (Ryan’s) settled a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for $500,000. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit Ryan’s subjected black and female employees to a sex-based and race-based hostile work environment, as well as adverse terms and conditions of employment. In some instances, african-american workers were terminated because of their race. The EEOC charged that white employees were also harassed because of their association with black coworkers and family members. The mistreatment included being referred to as “n----r lovers” and “race traitors” by white managers.

The EEOC claimed female workers were harassed because of their gender, and all complainants suffered retaliation for reporting the discrimination. The gender-based hostile work environment included male managers physically intimidating women, making sexual advances, and calling them gender-related epithets such as bitches. This is a form of gender discrimination.

“Any company – whether large, mid-sized or small – should know better than to allow discrimination and harassment to run rampant,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “No one should ever have to endure a hostile workplace in order to make a living. Employers that continue to violate federal anti-discrimination laws risk enforcement action by the EEOC.”

Continue reading "Ryan's Family Steakhouse Pays $500,000 To Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

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" »

A construction contractor operating at Texas refineries will pay $175,000 and agreed to a decree which enjoins Brand from discriminating against employees based on sex or retaliating against employees for opposing unlawful employment practices. It also provides for the implementation of an effective anti-discrimination policy and anti-discrimination training for Brand’s employees.

The EEOC’s lawsuit charged Brand Energy Solutions, L.L.C., formerly known as Brand Scaffold Builders, L.L.C., with violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting a female employee to sexual harassment and retaliation. The agency said that an operations manager employed by Brand at a Corpus Christi refinery sexually harassed a female timekeeper whom he supervised. The sexual harassment included subjecting her to repeated unwelcome physical contact, sexual advances and comments; placing lurid images on her work computer; and threatening and intimidating behavior such as throwing objects at her and locking her in a trailer. According to the lawsuit, the woman was forced to quit her job when Brand Scaffold failed to take prompt and appropriate remedial action to address the harassment, as the law requires.

Further, the EEOC charged, Brand retaliated against the woman for complaining about the abuse. After she complained to management she was removed from her work site, placed directly in the harasser's office and was shunned by the other employees. She was told by co-workers and at least one Brand manager that whistleblowers never keep their jobs.

“The law requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent such sexual harassment,” said David Rivela, senior trial attorney of the EEOC’s San Antonio Field Office.

An eight person federal jury has returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") in a sexual harassment lawsuit against AutoZone, Inc., the Memphis, Tenn.-based national auto parts retail giant. The jury ruled that AutoZone violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting employee Stacy Wing to a sexually hostile work environment. Wing complained about the sexual harassment, but AutoZone failed to take immediate and appropriate action to stop it.

The evidence presented at trial by the EEOC showed that Wing was subjected to egregious sexual harassment when she worked at the Mesa, Ariz.-based AutoZone in 2003. The EEOC presented evidence that the store manager repeatedly forced Wing’s head down to his genitals and made crude sexual remarks to her. At least one incident was caught on the store’s video camera, but AutoZone maintained it lost the video prior to trial, along with all records of Wing’s complaints and the “investigation” AutoZone claims it conducted.

“I am grateful to the EEOC for believing in this case and seeking justice on my behalf,” Wing said after the trial. “Without the EEOC, this type of behavior would go unchecked by those employers who do not care or do not understand how devastating sexual harassment can be to someone’s life.”

Continue reading "Autozone Inc. To Pay $65,000 For Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

Brooks Run Mining Company and staffing firm Neal & Associates will pay $115,000 to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") According to the lawsuit, women security guards as a class were discriminated against because of their gender. The EEOC alleged the women complained about sexual harassment, then retaliated against as they were prevented either by layoffs or transfers from working at the Brooks Run Cucumber mine site, although those security jobs were available to men.

Sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about it violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (Case No. 5:08-cv-0071) after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.

"Too often, women working in non-traditional fields suffer this kind of discrimination,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “The EEOC will fight to protect the rights of all workers to be free from discrimination based on gender and free from retribution for asserting that right.”

The three-year consent decree settling the lawsuit gives $115,000 to three women, all former security guards at the Cucumber mine site. In addition to monetary relief, the decree provides for significant remedial relief, including promoting supervisor accountability. The settlement also requires yearly training for all management staff on employee rights and employer obligations under federal and state anti-discrimination laws, with an emphasis on sex discrimination.

Continue reading "Brooks Run Mining Co. and Neal & Associates Settle EEOC Gender Discrimination Lawsuit For $115,000" »

National retail giant Dillard’s, Inc., will pay $110,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit involving two male employees. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleged that the company permitted a sexually hostile work environment for men at its Fashion Square Mall store in Orlando, Florida.

The EEOC alleged that a male supervisor engaged in verbal and physical sexual harassment of a male sales associate and a young dockworker when the supervisor exposed himself, propositioned the men, and made sexually explicit and derogatory comments. According to the lawsuit Dillard’s ignored complaints about the male supervisor. Under the terms of the settlement the company admitted no wrongdoing.

“The EEOC will hold corporate America accountable for failing to prevent and correct employment discrimination,” said Commission Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru.

Continue reading "Dillard's Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit for $110,000" »

Sharon Starzyk a Cicero worker in the town's Animal Welfare Department, alleges in a federal lawsuit that Cicero President Larry Dominick embarked on "an increasingly offensive course" of sexual harassment and sexual assault, which included explicit comments, groping and inappropriate touching. The lawsuit also alleges Dominick sent Starzyk lewd and sexually explicit text message and that Dominick "grabbed and squeezed her breasts" and in one case "picked her up by her crotch."

According to a lawsuit Janidet Lujano, a former auxiliary police sergeant in the town of Cicero, accused Dominick of sexual harassment and inappropriate touching. The lawsuit alleged Dominick repeatedly commented about her breasts. She also said Dominick touched her inappropriately and made sexual comments about her mother.

Starzyk first revealed that she was sexually harassed and assaulted during a recent deposition hearing for the Lujano trial. Moran, Starzyk's attorney said Starzyk didn't want to tell anyone about the incidents in fear of losing her job, which is commonly known as retaliation.

A sexual harassment lawsuit from over 35 years ago is settled. 54 year old Tom Gust accused typing teacher Bob Krantz of forcing himself on Gust in a supply room in 1970 after keeping him after school. This is a former of school sexual harassment. Gust said school staff hid the abuse and expelled him from school. Gust said he repressed the memories until 2005 when he found out about other allegations on the diocese website.

"I wanted the public to be aware of what goes on behind closed doors and let them know when these victims come forward there's a lot of pain and suffering that you don't hear about. There's therapy, there's attorneys, there's fees and it's very time consuming, expensive and painful" stated Gust.

Gust nor the diocese would discuss the terms of the settlement. In Illinois sexual harassment at an educational institution is Illegal. The educational institution is required to stop the sexual harassment when it becomes aware of the sexual harassment.

Rebeccas Myers, former employee of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service claims that when she complained that her boss at Jackson & Hewitt sexually harassed her, her boss's boss told her that "since they were alone in his office she could make herself feel better by performing oral sex on him." Myers sued Garfield & Johnson Enterprises dba Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, of Levittown, Pa.; her immediate supervisor, Michael Nolan; and Frank Johnson, a partner or principal of Garfield & Johnson, for sexual harassment and retaliation.

Myers claims that both men sexually harassed her and that Nolan's revolting behavior included asking her for ex, and telling her he wanted to "'lay [her] over a table' and have sex with her."
Myers alleges in her lawsuit that in evaluating her performance, "Nolan wrote in the evaluation, 'Rebecca Myers should experience what Nicole Brown Simpson did.' Nolan had sent this email to Mr. Johnson, who then circulated the evaluation to several other Jackson Hewitt managers and supervisors."

According to the lawsuit when Myers complained to Johnson of this email and of the allegations of sexual harassment, Johnson made the comment about "mak(ing) herself feel better by performing oral sex on him." Myers claims she was constructively discharged.

The entity that runs Overture Center will pay $10,000 to a former receptionist Monica Everson, to settle its portion of a federal civil rights lawsuit. Everson filed the lawsuit last fall against the city, former Overture president Bob D’Angelo, the Madison Cultural Arts District, which runs Overture, and other top city officials for allegedly failing to stop sexual harassment by D’Angelo.

In the lawsuit, Everson alleges that D’Angelo "repeatedly subjected her to unwelcome verbal and physical conduct and communication of a sexual nature" during most of the nearly 15 years they worked together at Overture and its predecessor, the Madison Civic Center. Everson is seeking unspecified damages, including back pay, legal fees and punitive damages.

D’Angelo was convicted last year of federal charges for using his city office to run two private businesses that netted hundreds of thousands of dollars. He pleaded guilty to two counts and was sentenced last April to one year and one day in prison.

Duane Reade with more than 200 drugstores in the New York area, agreed to pay $240,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleging a pattern of sexual harassment and retaliation at one of its Bronx stores. According to the lawsuit employees faced sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination and employees who complained and filed discrimination charges were retaliated against by being subjected to further harassment by supervisors.

The lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan after the commission tried to reach a voluntary settlement with Duane Reade. “This settlement achieves the EEOC's objectives by providing appropriate relief to the victims of sexual harassment while implementing appropriate measures to prevent this kind of violation in the future,” said Spencer H. Lewis, director of the commission’s New York district office. In addition to money damages, the suit had sought improvements in training and other policies.

“The store manager, Madiaw Diaw, frequently made vulgar remarks about women’s private parts, sexually propositioned female employees, made lewd comments about their pregnancies and bodies, assigned unfavorable job duties to pregnant employees and repeatedly grabbed female employees, including grabbing their buttocks,” the EEOC said in a statement.

Continue reading "Drugstore Chain Settles Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit for $240,000" »

A Clemmons North Carolina Burger King will pay $85,000 to Kathleen Joyner, a teenage employee, who was subject to unwanted touching, sexual advances and requests for sexual favors from the store’s general manager. When Joyner complained about the behavior to assistant managers, they did nothing. As part of the sexual harassment settlement, Burger King will provide sexual harassment training to its supervisors and post its sexual harassment policy in the store. The policy will give employees specific information about how they can file complaints with management.

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.

A federal jury awarded former dean of students Cheryl Farb $5 million after finding that she was fired in May 2006 in retaliation for filing a formal complaint against the then principal, James Brown. Farb claimed Brown used sexist language in front of female staff and commented on students' bodies. Additionally a witness testified that Brown used a sexist slur and threatened to have Farb fired when he was told she had filed the complaint alleging sexual harassment.

The jury found the Baldwin Board of Education liable for intentionally inflicting emotional distress on Cheryl Farb, the middle school's former dean of students, who had claimed she was a victim of sexual harassment and gender and racial discrimination. The Baldwin Board of Education, which, after an internal investigation, determined that Farb's claims were unsubstantiated, was found guilty of retaliation, for terminating her.

"Farb said she was appalled that Brown is still employed by the district."

Continue reading "Former Dean Awarded $5 Million in Sexual Harassment Case" »

I recently came across a sexual harassment case involving a multi-international company who does business in Illinois. The Illinois employee was required to sign various documents as part of the employment process, including a document whereby the employee was giving up her rights to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and Illinois Department of Human Rights ("IDHR") and instead agreeing to go through mediation with some third party. Of course the employee did not have an opportunity to negotiate this issue and in fact it was a "take it" or "leave it" approach by the company. Either sign all the documents in front of you or work somewhere else.

I believe this policy is unconstitutional, in clear violation of both state and federal law and may afford employees of this company additional causes of action against the corporation including fraud, violation of 740 ILCS 23 the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003, and violation of the Human Rights Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 among others.

For example in Illinois the five elements of fraud are:

1. A material misrepresentation of a presently exisiting or past fact;
2. Knowledge by the defendant of its falsity or a reckless disregard as to whether it is true or false;
3. Intention that the other person rely on the statement;
4. Justifiable or reasonable reliance thereon by the other person; and
5. Resulting damage.

Clearly, subjecting an employee to sign away his/her rights is a misrepresentation and against the public policy of Illinois. If you have been forced to sign such an agreement you may have a remedy against your employer.

The Illinois Supreme Court in Blount v. Stroud, 2009 WL 153862 ( Ill Sup Ct. 2009), rules the Illinois Human Rights Act does not stop a party from filing an employment or civil rights action in state court. The Court held that the Department of Human Rights and the Illinois Human Rights Commission only administer the Illinois Human Rights Act not federal law. The case involved Jerri Blout who filed a multi-count complaint in Cook County alleging retaliation under 42 USC Section 1981 and a common law claim of retaliation. The gist of her claim was that her employer wanted her to perjure herself in a discrimination case they were involved in and when she would not, she was fired. A jury awarded her $3 million plu $1 million in attorney fees and costs.

This case is good for plaintiffs as it gives one more arrow in their quiver against employers who discriminate against them and subject them to retaliation and other forms of discrimination.

Blount's lead attorney Robin Potter said " this case is monumental, particularly given the 2007 amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act that now permits those claims to be adjudicated in state court."

A lesbian student's complaint that teachers harassed her over her sexual orientation has led to a California school agreeing to pay the student $25,000 and revamp the schools anti-discrimination policies. The student, Rochelle Hamilton, now 16, was a sophomore at Jesse Bethel High School in the fall of 2007, when teachers allegedly verbally harassed her and forced her to attend a counseling session for gay students. Gill said the counselor tried to discourage Hamilton and other students in the session from being gay. Hamilton's standard dress was stereotypically male, with baggy jeans. This is a form of school sexual harassment.

The alleged harassment included a staff member telling Hamilton she was "ungodly" and "going to hell" as she embraced her then-girlfriend. The alleged comments transformed the "social butterfly" into a teenager on the verge of suicide, according Hamilton's mother. Hamilton, who came out as a lesbian when she was 13, said Monday she became depressed because of daily negative comments from teachers and staff about her sexual orientation and her appearance. Hamilton complained to school officials but nothing was done to stop the harassment. Hamilton's grades suffered and her social life suffered as a result of the harassment.

According to a letter dated Jan. 17, 2008, from the ACLU to Bull, staff members made comments to the girl such as, "Remember, you're a girl, not a boy," and, "You can get HIV/AIDS from being gay and messing with females."

Continue reading "California School Settles Sexual Orientation Discrimination Claims By Lesbian Student for $25,000" »

Flushings Hospital nurse Janet Bianco, 55, says Dr. Matthew Miller began groping and propositioning her soon after she started working at the hospital in 1993. She alleges the 61-year-old physician, who is married, was "very bold, aggressive, he didn't even try to hide it. Patient rooms, hallways, it didn't matter. Wherever he was, it occurred. And I wasn't the only one," referring to Dr. Millers conduct which resulted in Bianco filing a charge of sexual harassment against him and the hospital.

Bianco says she complained to supervisors, but no action was taken, despite the fact that Dr. Miller was previously sanctioned by New York State for having a prolonged sexual relationship with an alcoholic patient for whom he was prescribing anti-anxiety drugs. Bianco says that during one incident, Dr. Miller tried to force his tongue down her throat as the hospital's medical director, Dr. Peter Barra, looked on. A jury awarded Bianco $15 million, ordering the hospital and Miller split the cost.

Then, in 2001, Miller "chased Bianco through the halls," finally cornering her in a room with two heavily sedated patients, where he "aggressively groped her below the waist."

Illinois House Bill ("HB") 3794 would add a new section to the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure--8-2801. The passage of this bill will be good news for sexual harassment plaintiffs and their attorney's. The new statutue would prohibit the admission of any evidence to prove an alleged victim (plaintiff) engaged in other sexual behavior or to prove a victim's sexual predisposition in civil cases.

There are two exceptions--first the evidence of specific instances of sexual behavior by the plaintiff would only be admissible for the purpose of proving the plaintiff consented to the alleged sexual harassment. Second, any evidence of specific instances of sexual behavior by the plaintiff, offered to prove that a person other than the accused was the source of physical evidence would be admissible. Physical evidence could be the source of the injury, or semen as examples.

Continue reading "Illinois House Bill 3794 Will Affect Sexual Harassment Cases" »

A Valley Yellow Pages employee, Lori Gardner, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her supervisor David Golla, alleging that he repeatedly asked her to take photos of her breasts in order to leave work early and talked about what it would be like to have sex with other employees. The lawsuit against employee David Golla and AGI Publishing Inc., which publishes Valley Yellow Pages, alleges sexual harassment, discrimination in employment and retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract.

According to papers filed in the lawsuit, Gardner, an account executive alleges Golla, her supervisor, created a hostile working environment by repeatedly commenting about her breasts throughout the day for months. Gardner also alleges that Golla tried to kiss her and reached into her blouse and grabbed her breast.

“He would regularly comment on the bodies of women, making statements like ‘Look at the udders on that one’ or ‘Look at those, nice …’ ” according to the lawsuit.

Gardner also alleges that when she resisted Golla’s advances, he threatened to take her job away, threw materials on the desk and spoke harshly to her. Gardner repeatedly reported the sexual harassment but nothing of substance was done to stop it according to the lawsuit.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against Yellow Pages " »

Tammy Edwards and employee at Hyundai was awarded $5.79 million last week in her sexual harassment lawsuit. According to the complaint, a manager, made lewd comments and gestures, propositioned her, and even pressed his body against her. These harassing activities lasted for five months. Ms. Edwards was told she should get used to it and act like it didn't bother her. Eventually, in July 2006, Ed­wards reported the behavior to Hyundai's human resources de­partment, and a week later she was transferred from her job as a computer operator to a job on the assembly line- a position she couldn't physically perform--which is retaliation.

Ms. Edwards decided not to just take it and instead filed her federal lawsuit against the company. Officials at the plant never attempted to correct the situa­tion according to the lawsuit.

Alicia Haynes, who repre­sented Edwards, said the verdict shows that companies need to have safeguards against harass­ment and to make sure they are followed.

Continue reading "Hyundai Employee Awarded $5.79 Million in Sexual Harassment Case" »

A federal jury in Chicago rejected a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Carlos Estes against Teyonda Wertz, chief of staff of the state Human Services Department. The Illinois Department of Human Services was also named in the lawsuit. Attorneys portrayed Estes as a hero, a rare man with the guts to claim his female boss sexually harassed him. Estes reported the sexual harassment and was fired three weeks later. He calls that retaliation. But the state blamed it on repeated misuse of a government car.

"Sexual harassment does happen to men and it's important for men to speak out, no matter how difficult it is," said attorney Dana Kurtz.

Bill Anderson, attorney for the Illinois Department of Human Services, said, "This case is about a woman who had a scandalous and scurrilous accusation made against her and had to live with it for five years." Estes charged that Wertz insisted the two share a room at a Springfield hotel during a 2003 business trip, that Wertz changed into silk pajamas and then demanded sex from Estes. He refused. However, Estes admits he stayed in the room, and slept on the sofa. The jury did not buy Estes argument and rejected his claims.

A former school official of the Long Island school district, Cheryl Farb was awarded $5 million in a sexual harassment lawsuit. Farb was fired in 2004 after complaining that a middle school principal, Brown, used sexist and derogatory language toward her The former dean of students, Farb was choked up with emotion, recalling being fired from her job at the Baldwin Middle School.

"You need to stand up for what you believe in and what's right," Farb said.

Farb sued the principal and Baldwin School District in federal court, and a jury ruled Thursday that she was the victim of retaliation and fired because she lodged complaints of discrimination and sexual harassment. Brown, who remains on the job, was ordered to pay $1 million; the school district will pay the remaining $4 million.

"It only took this jury one hour and 20 minutes to come back with an award of $5 million," Farb's attorney, Rick Ostrove, said.

Continue reading "Ex-Long Island Teacher Awarded $5M In Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

A social work supervisor, Cesar Bedroni who sued the county for wrongful termination in a sexual harassment case has settled his lawsuit for $45,000 and the right to resign rather than be fired. The Board of Supervisors first fired Bedroni on Feb. 18, 2005, after nine allegations of sexual harassment against female co-workers from 2003.

County Administrative Officer David Edge said at the time that the county must send a message to its employees that it would not tolerate sexual harassment. Bedroni appealed his firing to the Civil Service Commission. Both sides believe the settlement is fair and allows everyone to move forward.
.

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."

Charlie Gasparino at the Daily Beast says that as one of his last acts as CEO, Jimmy Cayne agreed to pay a female employee $2 million to pre-emptively settle a sexual harassment charge against Ace Greenberg, the firm's longtime chairman. Greenberg said he wouldn't comment on the story, though he then followed it up by saying it was "bullshit."

Many corporations will do whatever it takes to put an allegation of sexual harassment to rest, especially if the allegation is made by a credible employee and involves an executive. Sexual Harassment settles seem to be on the rise and the dollar amounts of the settlements seems to be increasing. As a sign of the times, many employees who are being laid off now seem less loyal to those same corporations and behavior which they once put up with, is now the subject of litigation.

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.”

Robin Korherr filed a complaint Sept. 12, 2007, with the Division of Human Rights, alleging sexual harassment, gender discrimination, racial discrimination and retaliation. The Division of Human Rights later found probable cause in the case. Korherr worked June 2003 to August 2007 at the sheriff's office as Sheriff Meskill's confidential secretary. Korherr, also a member of Ithaca Common Council representing the city's Fifth Ward, alleges sexual harassment and retaliation from April 2005 to August 2007.

Korherr claims the sexual harassment began in 2005 when she was going through a divorce. Korherr says on several occasions, Meskill tried to kiss and grope her. Korherr testified that she approached her boss numerous times to rectify the situation and the sheriff would apologize initially, but become aggressive again and continued with the alleged behavior through his re-election in 2006. She also claims she received dozens of drunken phone calls from him.

Korherr says Meskill made it impossible for her to work by taking away her privileges and enforcing new rules and believes it was retaliation, saying it was because "I wouldn't sleep with him."

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.

Penny Jo Dye, a former information systems clerk and steno clerk for the Waterford Township alleged in her lawsuit that she became the subject of inflamed, derogatory and degrading comments of a sexual nature after she gave a statement supporting a co-worker who had also made claims of sexual harassment against the department. Dye and her attorney will be paid a total of $325,000 in exchange for dismissing the lawsuit.

Dye made a verbal complaint of sexual harassment to her supervisor per the police department's sexual harassment policy. A written complaint reportedly was filed with the township's director of fiscal and human resources.The lawsuit claimed Dye was then aggressively retaliated against by the township and the police department.

The lawsuit alleged the retaliation included removing Dye's job duties, removing her from e-mail distribution lists, withholding training, removing her ability to use flex time, initiating and continuing ridiculous and unjustified internal investigations to discipline her, relegating her to a corner and other demeaning treatment and firing her.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, Roy E. Dreshman Jr., 55, of Munhall, Allegheny County, alleges the sexual harassment began two months after he was hired as a nurse at Henry Clay Villa in Markleysburg in 1997. He alleges he was continuously propositioned, referred to as a "pretty boy" and subjected to unsolicited touching until he was terminated in 2008. Dreshman, a former stripper, indicated he told no one of his work as a stripper when he was hired, but it was made public when two co-workers recognized him. After that revelation, employees asked for lap dances, and some employees passed around photos of Dreshman as a dancer.

Dreshman alleged management retaliated against him when he complained, instead of initiating an investigation. The retaliation escalated when he threatened to file the EEOC complaint, ultimately resulting in his termination. Dreshman is seeking back pay, compensation for lost benefits and compensatory damages for pain, suffering and emotional distress.

"Residents made comments like: 'Oh, my gosh, you are one of them go-go boys,'" wrote Dreshman in the EEOC complaint.

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.

Central Michigan University has agreed to pay $450,000 after two women's soccer players, senior Sarah Burns and freshman Morgan Britt accused their coach Tony DiTucci of sexual harassment. Sexual Harassment can only be alleged between employees/employers with the one exception being if it involves education, or school sexual harassment. For the purposes of the sexual harassment, a student/teacher is analogous to an employee/employer. In this case the women are claiming assault and battery and physical contact, but the basis of their claim is sexual harassment.

The women each had a sexual relationship with Tony DiTucci because of his "skilled manipulation and seduction," lawyer Jennifer Salvatore said

DiTucci maintains his innocence and states that both of his accusers had made suggestive romantic advances towards him on more than one occasion and said he reported the incidents to his supervisor and told them the advances made him feel extremely uncomfortable. In order for the women to prevail on their sexual harassment claims, they would need to show the harassment was unwanted or in this case they are alleging he was in a position over them as their coach and therefore inappropriate.

Continue reading "Central Michigan University Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit For $450,000" »

Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores, Inc. will pay $255,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit which was filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The lawsuit alleged Cracker Barrel allowed its general manager, managers, and other male employees to subject a class of women at its Cedar Bluff, Tenn., location to sexual harassment and retaliated. According to the EEOC the general managers, other managers and male employees made repeated and unwanted sexual jokes, and lewd remarks. The women complained to the managers and Cracker Barrel's 800 number complaint line but the company failed to take action to stop the harassment, according to the EEOC. As a result of complaining about the sexual harassment, the managers moved the complaining women to areas of the restaurant where tips were low in retaliation for reporting the sexual harassment.

Part of the settlement requires the company to conduct annual training on sexual harassment and retaliation for all employees at the restaurant for three years. Cracker Barrel must also maintain and report complaints of harassment received for three years and post its sexual harassment policy, including its 800 hotline number for reporting such claims according to the Tennessean.com

Cracker Barrel spokeswoman Julie Davis said the restaurant chain decided to settle the situation to maintain a good working relationship with the EEOC.

"Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and the EEOC share the same goal in this matter: a workplace that is free of harassment," Davis said

Under federal law (Title VII), retaliation occurs when an employee is fired or has his/her terms and conditions of work changed as a result of making a formal complaint of discrimination. In this case moving the women to areas of the restaurant where tips were low was a change of the working condition.

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 Star Tribune will pay $325,000 to settle a long-running sexual harassment case with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") affecting as many as 78 female mailroom workers. The Star Tribune denied wrongdoing and said it settled to avoid costlier litigation. The paper reported Thursday that it had also agreed to employ a supervisor on every mail room shift, provide training, prohibit harassment and retaliation, and make a human resources staffer specifically responsible.

The case dates from August 2005, before current owners Avista Capital Partners took over, but continued during the current regime. Two women alleged that they were "subject to sexist slurs, being sworn at, and having sex-based comments made to them. Co-workers would tell them to put up with it because they were working in the 'male room,'" according to a federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit filed in September 2008.

EEOC litigator Laurie Vasichek says the settlement breaks down as follows:

• Three women who ultimately filed charges with the EEOC will split $175,000.

• Another 40 women who filed claims will split $90,000.

• Those 40 women, plus as many as 35 who sign waivers, will receive $800 each, up to $60,000. If fewer than 60 total sign up, they'll receive $530 each, up to $40,000.

Any unspent balance in the $40,000 or $60,000 will not be returned to the Star Tribune. Instead, it will go to a charity of the EEOC's choice.

Continue reading "78 Star Tribune Women Split $325,000 in Sexual Harassment Lawsuit" »

Leanne Siri the highest-ranking civilian woman at Dallas Fire-Rescue ("DFR") filed a federal lawsuit with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleging that she was demoted recently after complaining about lewd e-mails and sexual harassment from higher-ups.
Attorney Aaron Ramirez is representing another woman at DFR who filed a similar lawsuit saying a superior "...would loudly carry on all sorts of graphic and inappropriate sexual conversations with anyone who would listen." "I don't think it's isolated at all,” said Ramirez. “We have three clients currently right now. I know there's a fourth one that came out yesterday. We've talked to at least five or six other women."

Ramirez said another female firefighter he represents filed an EEOC complaint alleging men urinated on her bedding and placed straight pins in it.

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" »

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."

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" »

A former Seattle Municipal Court worker is getting $135,000 to settle a sexual harassment case involving a judge. According to the settlement agreement half the money will be paid by the taxpayers and half by Judge Ron A. Mamiya. The former courthouse worker is not identified in court documents and it appears the relationship started as a consensual affair last year. The former staff member, a mother of two, says Mamiya repeatedly made unwanted advances after they agreed to break off the affair-which constituted a hostile work environment.

In February 2008, the two began a sexual relationship, meeting at a hotel in Seattle and another hotel near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, she said. He also visited her in her court office in the late afternoon and would kiss her and touch her sexually. Mamiya became jealous when he saw her talking to other men at work according to the Seattle Times.

Mamiya has been a Municipal Court judge since 1981. He released a statement acknowledging what he calls "my horrible lapse in judgment."

Continue reading "Seattle court sexual harassment case settled for $135,000" »

Binghamton University fundraiser Elizabeth Williams accused Jason Siegel, a senior associate athletic director, and the other Binghamton athletics administrator, Chris Lewis, of egregious acts of sexual misconduct in her sexual harassment complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). Williams said she decided to come forward when harassing behavior was directed at her and others, including graduate assistants and interns, in front of groups of people.

BU President Lois B. DeFleur said Thursday the university doesn't tolerate harassment of any kind, adding that fostering a respectful and professional environment on campus is among the university's fundamental values, according to the New York Times. According to the complaint, Williams was hired in March 2008 as the university’s regional director of major gifts, and she switched to raising money for the athletic department in January.

She said the harassment began her first day in the department, when she was told by Lewis that she needed to engage a donor at a Binghamton game because he liked “chesty, loudmouthed women.”

One week later, Williams said, she attended a dinner in New York with Siegel, Lewis and major donors from a fraternity. Soon after dinner began, she said, a donor began putting $100 bills on the table and asked her to tell him to stop when there were enough there for her to sleep with him. Williams claims this created a hostile work environment.

Continue reading "Sexual Harassment complaint filed with EEOC at Binghamton" »

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" »

In a case first reported in this Blog in December 2008, Muskegon County has agreed to pay $120,000 to settle allegations that it failed to protect court employees from sexual harassment. Eugene Beene, the man who sexually harassed the women served a jail sentence for fourth-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct.

The lawsuit was filed in December 2008 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan and alleged that Muskegon County violated Title VII by failing to take adequate remedial measures to remedy ongoing sexually harassing behavior perpetrated by the former employee's coworker--Beene. The woman claimed the creation of a hostile work environment.

"The Department of Justice commends Muskegon County for working cooperatively to resolve this case without protracted litigation, and for taking positive steps to provide a workplace free of harassment for its employees," said Loretta King, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

According to the terms of the consent decree, Muskegon County will pay $120,000 in damages to the former female employee on whose behalf the United States filed the lawsuit.

Continue reading "Update: Muskegon County Michigan Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit For $120,000" »

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.

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" »

Five former employees of Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Lodge in Utica Illinois, Leno Campbell, Suzanne Czarnecki, Michael DeLap, Mark Low and Lisa Meyers filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming sexual harassment, racial discrimination and gender discrimination. The lodge's owners are Joseph Hook, Keith and Susan Wolick. The lawsuit also alleges the owners fostered an environment in which sexual harassment of female employees by the male owners was common.

Campbell, an african-american, was the lodge's director of housekeeping and is claiming the owners discriminated against him because of his race including that Wolick often made remarks critical of blacks to other employees and to Campbell himself. Czarnecki the former resort's revenue manager, and Meyers a former reservationist are claiming they were discriminated against because they were women and also allege Hook made sexual remarks and committed assault and battery against them, in that he made physical contact of a sexual nature without their consent.

The resorts attorney Mike Moody had this to say about the lawsuit:

"After an exhaustive investigation by the (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) in which Grand Bear cooperated and steadfastly defended against these false charges, the EEOC terminated its investigation and filed no charges against Grand Bear. Grand Bear has every confidence that it will be vindicated in a court of law and denies that it discriminated against anyone in any way."

However, Plaintiff's attorney Erika Pedersen responded by stating:

““The EEOC terminated its investigation of the claims against Grand Bear only because we, the plaintiffs, asked it to. We wanted to advance the litigation to federal court so we asked the EEOC to issue our clients their Notices of Right to Sue, which it is obligated to do. The EEOC made no finding either way and nothing about that process can or should be interpreted as a reflection on the merits of the claims or defenses. The allegations are very disturbing and serve as a reminder that sexual and racial harassment are still significant problems for many employees in this country. Each of our clients hopes that by bringing these claims, the working environment becomes better for current and future employees of Grand Bear and elsewhere.”

By way of background victims of discrimination must first file with the EEOC before they can file in court. In this case it was the intention of the Plaintiffs to proceed to federal court rather than wait for the EEOC to complete its investigation, which can take years. The Plaintiffs fulfilled their obligation by filing charges first with the EEOC and once they exhausted the administrative process, proceeded to court by filing their lawsuit.

Continue reading "Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Lodge " »

A Maryland horse farm owned by philanthropist Robert E. Meyerhoff settled a federal sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for $180,000. The EEOC alleged the horse farm harassed Lindsay Donovan while she was employed as a farmhand. The EEOC also alleged that Donovan and her co-workers, Paul Stewart and Lee Anne Stewart, were fired after Donovan complained about sexual harassment and identified the Stewarts as witnesses who could support her claims. The $180,000 will go to Donovan and the Stewarts, according to the settlement terms.

Fitzhugh LLC, which operates Fitzhugh Farm near Phoenix, also said it would implement an anti-harassment policy and provide training to employees and managers on the prevention of employment discrimination, according to a consent decree filed yesterday in the U.S District Court in Baltimore.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") alleged that Big Vanilla Athletic Club violated federal law specifically the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by sexually harassing several female employees at several of the company's Maryland locations. According to the lawsuit the women were subjected to repeated and unwanted sexually offensive remarks and sexual advances as well as retaliation for filing their sexual harassment complaints with the EEOC.

As part of the settlement, Big Vanilla Athletic Club must train current and future managers on anti-discrimination laws and post notices stating its commitment to maintaining an environment free of sexual harassment and retaliation.

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.

Robertson Sanitation, a Phoenix-based trash hauling, recycling and disposal company that operates in Georgia, will pay $475,000 to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC").

According to the lawsuit, Jeanine Moore applied for a truck driver position with Robertson at its Winder, Georgia facility in August 2005, was never interviewed or hired even though she was more qualified than a number of male applicants who were hired. A review of the job applications at that location between January 2005 and September 2006 showed that some of the men hired were less qualified than Moore, including six males who lacked Robertson's minimum qualifications for the truck driver position. The EEOC's investigation revealed a class of similarly qualified women who, like Moore, were also rejected despite their qualifications.

The consent decree (the term used when the EEOC settles a lawsuit) provides $475,000 in monetary relief to the class of qualified female applicants who were discriminatorily rejected for employment between January 1, 2005 and October 31, 2006. Moore will receive $70,000 in damages, while the remaining funds will be distributed among the other qualified claimants whose eligibility will be determined by a procedure set forth in the decree.

Additionally the company agreed to exercise good faith in offering employment to qualified female applicants for residential, commercial, industrial and roll-off truck driver positions at the Winder and Austell facilities and the company is also required to submit a report each year identifying the name, sex and qualifications of all qualified applicants for truck driver positions, the persons offered positions, and the persons hired.

Janet Bianco, 55, a nurse at New Yorks Flushing Hospital said she suffered prolonged torment at the hands of Dr. Matthew Miller, ending when he sexually assaulted her at Flushing Hospital in 2001. A jury awarded her $15 million after finding that hospital leadership allowed Dr. Miller who had a history of sexual harassment to continuously harass Bianco. This was the largest sexual harassment award ever in New York.

According to the testimony, Dr. Miller forcibly grabbed Bianco at a cardiac unit nursing station and tried to force his tongue down her throat while the hospital's medical director, Dr. Peter Barra, saw the attack but did nothing to intervene or discipline Dr. Miller. The medical directors reluctance to intervene is a form of retaliation. In another instance Dr. Miller chased Bianco through the halls until he cornered her in a room with two heavily sedated patients, where he aggressively groped her below the waist.

"I only hope out of this whole thing that people become aware. I think that people take it lightly when you say sexual harassment. They don't understand how it affects your life, not only in your job, but in your home, with your friends," Bianco said.

Following Miller's attack on Bianco, the misconduct board from the Office of Professional Medical Conduct suspended Millers license for two months and slapped him with another three years' probation. Miller's admitting privileges at Flushing Hospital were also withdrawn.

Continue reading "Nurse Awarded $15 Million in Sexual Harassment Case" »

Former police Sgt. April Begin, who filed a lawsuit against the city in 2007 in which she alleged her fellow officers made sexual remarks and refused to back her up in dangerous situations because they resented working with a woman was settled with the city of Dearborn. The lawsuit was based on sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation. As part of the settlement she will receive a pension of $57,000 a year for life with full medical benefits, $60,000 in retroactive pension benefits dating to April when she was relieved of her duties without pay, plus $60,000 cash.

The city of Dearborn, which was named as the primary defendant in each of the cases maintained its actions in regards to the officers were lawful and nondiscriminatory but claims it settlemented all three cases because it was in the best interest of the city and police department citing the cost of settling the cases on the terms agreed to by the parties was less than the cost of moving forward with the litigation. Additionally, two of the defenses key witnesses died before trial and that weakened the defense planned by the city.

"It's not sexual that way, like sleep with me or anything like that, it's just that I'm the weakest link because I'm a female kind of thing," Begin said

Continue reading "Former Female Police Officer Settles With City On Case Involving Sexual Harassment, Gender Discrimination and Retaliation" »

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" »

According to the lawsuit Captain Ed Murray, 63, sent an explicit text to 29-year-old Rachel Quinn after they travelled together on a business trip. Quinn said she was reading a book in her hotel when she received the message in which Murray said:

"I cannot wait for you to go down on me."

Quinn said she was unfairly fired from her job with the private charter jet company Gama and that she had been a victim of sexual harassment and retaliation. Tribunal chairman Keith Bryant rejected both of Quinn's claims saying the court could not consider the sexual harassment claim because it had been made more than three months after the alleged incidents.

This was a United Kingdom case, in Illinois an employee has 180 days to file a sexual harassment complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights or 300 days to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. As you can see from the case above, waiting too long can be fatal to a good case.

Women who encounter workplace sexual harassment tend to leave the organization according to research student Chana Levi and Professor Eran Vigoda-Gadot of the University of Haifa. The two surveyed 192 women who work in the public sector to observe whether women who were sexually harassed would tend to leave their place of work, develop behaviors of work neglect or attempt to change the situation by means of taking particular action.

Other findings include one-third of the women reported having experienced gender harassment at medium or high frequency and almost 90 percent of the women never experienced repeated attempts at sexual relations or seldom experienced it.

The study also found that very few of the women reported incidents of sexual harassment at work.

For the purpose of the study sexual harassment was defined as offensive sexually suggestive comments, repeated harassment intended to lead to sexual relations and actual sexual coercion.

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" »

Two movie-production companies, Los Angeles-based Mandate Pictures and Chicago-based Crick Pictures, agreed to pay $75,000 to settle a pregnancy-discrimination lawsuit filed by the Chicago regional office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). According to the lawsuit both companies refused to hire Cynthia Castillo-Hill for a position as a casting assistant after learning she was pregnant.

Castillo-Hill produced an e-mail from the hiring supervisor which showed that the two companies believed that Castillo-Hill's pregnancy would prevent her from being able to handle the stress and long hours associated with the job. However Castillo-Hill said

"Her own doctor had indicated that the job was appropriate."

Along with the payment of $75,000, the two production companies are enjoined under the decree from future pregnancy discrimination, and are required to provide managers with training on how to avoid discrimination. The discrimination occurred in 2005 during production of the 2006 film "Stranger Than Fiction," which starred Will Ferrell and was filmed in part in the Chicago area.

Once a sexual harassment complaint is filed, the employer is required to investigate the complaint and file a response--then defend itself or settle. Here is an example of how expensive that process can be for an employer. In Knox County taxpayers have paid out $464,953 to attorneys, insurers, accountants and investigators in the battle over claims and counterclaims based on a sexual harassment complaint filed against State’s Attorney John Pepmeyer.

In this case, three women working under Pepmeyer filed a sexual harassment complaint, Pepmeyer then claimed the former State's attorney Paul Mangieri and former Sheriff Thompson were running sloppy departments and wasting taxpayer monies. Those claims were never substantiated despite the accounting firm of Carpentier, Mitchell & Goddard, being paid $62,000 to conduct audits of Mangieri’s, Thompson’s offices and private investigators William and Robert Albracht being paid $28,000 to investigate Mangieri’s, Thompson’s offices. A prevailing theory is that Pepmeyer is making the claims to divert attention from his sexual harassment case.

What this case really shows is how much money a sexual harassment case can cost. Once a claim is made there may be other claims and counter-claims made and the costs just keep going up. This case isn't even scheduled for trial anytime soon and almost half a million dollars has been spent. According to Galesburg.com, county treasurer Robin Davis said

"None of us are happy with the amount of money being spent but we have an obligation to defend any allegations made against county officials,”

Sometimes settling a sexual harassment claim quickly makes the most sense for all parties.

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" »

Five former students and a current student at East Stroudsburg University filed a sexual harassment lawsuit claiming the University failed to stop former vice president Isaac W. Sanders from luring students into unwanted sexual encounters including one in his office when he was 'drinking cognac and watching a pornographic video on his television. One student alleges Sanders offered to pay his tuition in return for sex.

The lawsuit also claims the university, president Robert J. Dillman and the board of trustees failed to properly investigate repeated allegations that Sanders was subjecting students to 'sexual harassment and sexual assault. Additional allegations include, Sanders sending a student an e-mail of a picture of a stick figure performing a lewd act with a gas pump, Sanders putting his hand down one of the students pants while driving with him and putting $1,000 in a students account. The lawsuit claims school sexual harassment.

Continue reading "Six Students File a Lawsuit Against East Stroudsburg University for Sexual Harassment" »

Tina Hammer who reportedly endured years of sexual harassment at the Georgia-Pacific Gypsum LLC plant in Fort Dodge Iowas was awarded $75,000 to end her lawsuit. Hammer was subject to repeated lewd remarks and was repeatedly groped.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") sued Georgia-Pacific on March 28, 2007, claiming the company violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by permitting an employee to sexually harass Hammer and by failing to take action to stop the sexual harassment. In addition to paying Hammer $75,000, the company also agreed to give civil rights training to its managers in Fort Dodge and post a notice of the settlement at the Fort Dodge plant so all employees could review it.

''Sexual harassment violates an employee's dignity and makes it difficult for her to do the work that the employer expects of her,''

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" »

Janice Worthen-Caldwell the former employee of the Special Touch, a large Brooklyn New York home health care firm, is suing her boss, Steven Ostrovsky, for $400 million, alleging he had sex with her, groped her and otherwise sexually harassed her and most of his female workers over the past 15 years. The last straw Caldwell says was when she rebuffed Ostrovsky's advances, which she said included grabbing her rear at one office party and trying to kiss her at another. The sexual harassment lawsuit had opening statements last week and continues this week.

Ostrovsky's lawyer Richard Reibstein told the court in his opening statement that Caldwell was annoyed because she was shifted to another job in the company after returning from a 13-week medical leave. He also told the jury:

"These allegations of sexual harassment didn't occur, or if they occurred, she is taking some act and blowing it out of proportion to make it sound a lot worse,"

But according to the Daily News a former employee, Desiree Cooper, testified that she began a two-year affair with the married Ostrovsky in 1992 and would perform oral sex on him in his office three times a week. She said:

"He would also give me money to purchase edible underwear, which he enjoyed having me eat off him."

Continue reading "Former Employee Sues Boss For $400 Million " »

A sexual harassment lawsuit which was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), alleged that former Gainesville Police Capt. Ray Weaver in August 2007 was sexually harassing an employee of the department has been settled for $75,000. The victim alleged that the "city knew or should have known that there was sexual harassment going on in the police department." The investigation found evidence of several events that had occurred between the employee and Weaver, including inappropriate photos and masturbation in front of the female police officer.

Captain Weaver retired before the investigation was made public. Along with the payment of $75,000, Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan issued an apology to the victim saying:

"I do wish to apologize to the individual who was subjected to this circumstance," Hanrahan said. "I've been communicating about seeking compensation through Capt. Weaver. It was an outrageous and despicable act, and I have confidence that the actions taken by our management at our police department should not ever allow something like this to happen again."

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.

The Illinois Supreme Court in Blount v. Stroud addressed the issue of whether or not Illinois courts have jurisdiction to hear claims brought under the Federal Civil Rights Act. In that case the Court held that employees are not required to file a claim with the Illinois Human Rights Commission even if the alleged conduct also violates provisions of the Illinois Human Rights Act. In this case the cause of action was based on retaliation.

Additionally, a claim by a former employee that she was fired for refusing to commit perjury
states a cause of action for retaliatory discharge under Illinois law. The Court went on to say that because a jury found for the plaintiff on a 42 U.S.C. 1981 claim and awarded damages in excess of $3,000,000, the trial court was justified in awarding attorneys’ fees under federal law in the amount of $1,182,832--basing their decision on the fact that the plaintiff prevailed on her claim.

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."

Firefighters John Ghiotto, Jason Hewitt, Alex Kane and Chad Allison were forced to ride a fire engine in the July 2007 gay pride parade near San Diego after a crew that had volunteered pulled out. The firefighers allege that during the parade, they were subjected to catcalls and saw barely clothed men simulate sex acts. They claim the behavior was so bad that at one point they rolled up their windows, put on headphones and stared straight ahead. The firefighters allege this constitutes sexual harassment--the city disagrees.

San Diego Fire Chief Tracy Jarman met with the four fire fighters days after the parade, apologized and said she was working with the firefighters union to develop a parade policy. The four firefighters hired an attorney and filed a complaint with the city hours after meeting with the chief in 2007--that complaint is now being heard in court. This type of sexual harassment is based on a hostile work environment. In short, the fire fighters are claiming that being forced to participate in the gay pride parade and watch men simulate sex acts subjected them to conduct that they shouldn't have to tolerate at work.

Fire Chief Jarman testified. “Potentially, they could have been offended. It could be construed as sexual conduct issues under the city's policy. Not necessarily harassment.

A jury that heard the sexual harassment claim in September couldn't reach a verdict--so this is the second trial. In that trial, the four fire fighters asked for up to $1 million each for emotional distress.

Continue reading "Firefighters Sue City of San Diego For Sexual Harassment" »

A former White Castle employee filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that her coworkers made constant comments about her body, especially after management started requiring employees to tuck their shirts in, and made consistent sexual advances toward her, including inviting her to have a threesome. The sexual harassment lawsuit alleges the woman's supervisor overlooked the misbehavior because he was friends with the harassers. When the employee complained to the women who were harassing her, she began to have her hours changed intentionally so they would conflict with her church services.

The woman no longer works for White Castle and is seeking damages for mental anguish, pain and suffering and lost wages. When an employee reports harassment and is punished or otherwise has an adverse job action, it is referred to as retaliation. In Illinois an employee who quits or is terminated has a duty to mitigate her damages. Mitigation refers to finding another job to offset the loss of wages. If an employee is unable to find another job but is seeking employment they will be considered to have mitigated their damages. It is important to keep detailed records of job searches for this reason.

The Fitzgeralds of Cape Cod filed a lawsuit, based on sexual harassment, against the Barnstable School Committee and former school Supt. Russell Dever in 2002 under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, which provides protections under the 14th Amendment's equal protections clause, and the 1972 law known as Title IX, a federal law requiring gender equality in schools. The Fitzgeralds alleged their 5-year-old daughter was sexually harassed by an older student on the school bus for a period of six months--which constitutes school sexual harassment. Additionally, they accused school officials of discriminating against their daughter in the schools response to the alleged incidents.

The United States Supreme Court ruling allows the case to proceed. The Court's decision does not address the facts of the underlying sexual harassment case, only that filing such cases under the Civil Rights Act of 1871 is valid.

According to Stacy Gallagher, director of Children's Cove, a Barnstable-based advocacy center for abused children

"The general feeling is that it doesn't happen in schools and it certainly does, It happens everywhere."

As reported in the Cape Cod Times, Fitzgerald said his daughter, now a middle school student, is relieved after the Supreme Court ruling. "She's extremely happy that there is a court that stood up for her position and affirmed it and affirmed it unanimously."