Sexual Harassment

Inter office affairs have several serious consequences and may result in claims of harassment or discrimination. For example, sexual harassment claims may arise where one party feels pressure to become involved in a relationship in order to maintain his or her job. A recent case evaluated the situation where a female prison employee was engaged…

Many workplace discrimination cases involve the situation where a supervisor harasses or discriminates against an employee. However, what happens where the harasser is a co-worker? A recent employment discrimination case – Velazquez-Perez v. Developers Diversified Realty Corp. – evaluated whether a man was wrongfully terminated based on his rejection of the human resources manager’s sexual advances. In Velazquez-Perez, a shopping…

Sexual harassment is one of the most frequent discrimination claims. However, what actions may be considered harassing behavior vary. The courts are constantly struggling to define what sexual harassment is and what it is not, and sometimes the results can be quite confusing–the devil is in the details. What is clear, though, is that, whether…

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.…

When you think about sexual harassment, the first thing that comes to mind for many people is a male boss making inappropriate comments, gestures and other sexual overtures toward a female employee. However, sexual harassment can exist in many different situations. In legal terms, sexual harassment is defined as “unwelcome conduct that creates a hostile…