Sexual Harassment

Unfortunately, racism is still alive and well in our society. The news regularly reports stories of nooses on factory floors and crude racist jokes being circulated through company email systems. Fortunately, Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against their employees “because of” their race or color. That means that employers may not take your race…

A recent case out of Alabama reviewed the situation where a co-worker’s “creepy” actions created such a difficult situation that a jury could consider it a “hostile work environment.” In Hollis v. Town of Mount Vernon, a female dispatcher complained that another part-time dispatcher – William Cannon – wouldn’t leave her alone and made her feel…

Sexual harassment is one of the most well-known forms of employment discrimination. But what happens if you’re a victim of sexual harassment at work? Do you know who to tell? When does your employer need to act? A recent employment discrimination case involving allegations of same-sex harassment looked at what is “sufficient notice” of a…

A Connecticut court has just determined that a female police officer can advance her claims of sex discrimination and sex harassment. One of her primary complaints – the police chief repeatedly referred to her as that “chick cop.” Despite some progress toward equality in the work place, sex discrimination and sexual harassment still continue. Fortunately,…

What some workers may consider “goofing around” or “horse play” can have serious consequences. In a recent case out of Mississippi, a nursing home supervisor pulled down the pants and underwear of a nurse in front of several co-workers. The nurse later resigned from the job, stating that the offensive conduct made her job intolerable.…

Unfortunately despite efforts to eradicate sexism and it’s existence in the workplace, many workers still report instances of harassment, name-calling and negative treatment based on their gender. Either men or women can be victims of sex harassment or sex discrimination. Whenever you are subjected to bias based on your gender you may have a claim…

Over the last several years employers have started to recognize that sexual comments, lewd jokes and other types of sexual behavior may make employees uncomfortable and efforts should be made to eliminate offensive behavior. Allowing unwelcome conduct to continue may create both a bad working environment and lead to sexual harassment lawsuits. But what about when a…

An Oklahoma judge recently ruled that your past sexual experiences do not affect your right to bring a case for harassment. In a lawsuit against Digicut Systems, a judge determined that a former prostitute – Susan Terry – could bring a case for sexual harassment. Terry, who had previously run a tanning salon that doubled as…

In late August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that “one action” is sufficient to create a hostile work environment claim if it is sufficiently severe, especially uninvited, physical and intimate, bodily contact. In Berry v. Chicago Transit Auth., Cynthia Berry sued the Chicago Transit Authority under Title VII of the 1964…

In a recent Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision, the court determined that a female could pursue a claim of gender discrimination based on sexual harassment and disparate treatment against Verizon Communications, Inc., pursuant to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The 2d Circuit reversed the lower court decision. Although sexual harassment is one of the most well…