Sexual Harassment

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…

A recent case out of California determined that even though certain allegations were not raised during the administrative phase of a sexual harassment case, that those allegations could be raised as part of the civil sexual harassment lawsuit. Sexual harassment is probably the most well known form of employment discrimination. What is not as well…

Many times retaliation claims may be brought and won even where it may not be possible to maintain the underlying case for harassment or employment discrimination. If you have been fired or subjected to an “adverse employment action” after complaining about behavior you believe is in violation of discrimination laws, you may have a claim for retaliation. Consulting…

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…

If you’re the victim of sexual harassment and you complain to management about the offending behavior, what actions must the company take? This question is at the root of many work-place disputes. A recent case from the Tenth Circuit, which includes Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, questioned if a nursing home did enough in…

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…

Actions constituting sexual harassment or those that create a hostile work environment can take many forms such as lewd comments, inappropriate touching, and sexually explicit joke telling. Despite the sexual nature of the harassment – actual sexual desire or attraction need not exist to support an inference of sexual discrimination. In a recent sexual harassment case, Rosario v.…