An incident happened at your company. Specifically, one employee is claiming that her supervisor has repeatedly asked her out, has sent her lewd email and text messages, inappropriately touched her and, continues to harass her. You, the supervisor’s boss, hear about it. You act immediately. You get them both into your office and decide to […]
What’s Required to Prove a Federal “Sex-Plus” Harassment Claim?
The First Circuit Court of Appeals answers this question in her 60-page opinion, upholding a $700,000 judgment against the Providence Rhode Island Fire Department in Franchina v City of Providence. This isn’t just any harassment case. The firefighter-plaintiff is/was a woman and a lesbian. Now, you may remember that Title VII does not explicitly prohibit […]
It Wasn’t Harassment. It Was Consensual — Really…
We know it’s common for co-workers to date. Sometimes one of the co-workers is dating someone that they supervise. What happens when co-workers do decide to date? Some employers prohibit workplace relationships. What happens when one of them supervises the other? What happens when the relationship sours? Now for the multi-million dollar question: What happens when […]
What Exactly Is Sexual Harassment?
Last week we discussed growing sexual harassment scandal and some of the takeaways for employers. You can find that post here if you missed it. It seems however, that many people, including employers, are not 100% clear on exactly what behavior sexual harassment. Given that the issue is not going away any time soon — […]
The Sexual Harassment Scandal: How it Should Impact Employers
Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, Louis C.K., Kevin Spacey, Matt Lauer. These are just a few celebrity names that we have been hearing lately in connection with sexual misconduct allegations. The list has grown exponentially and it looks like it might still be growing. Are women, children, and employees in general safe from sexual harassment or […]