Employer Will Pay $300,000 For Sexual Harassment
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- Published on Tuesday, 10 May 2011 04:48
An employer, Dave's Supermarket, will pay $300,000 to four women to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC alleged that a former meat department manager at a Dave's market made repeated and unwanted sexual advances to female employees, and that even though upper management was aware of his behavior, they failed to stop it. The EEOC charged that the sexual harassment included an incident during which the manager allegedly exposed himself to a newly hired female employee. The EEOC alleged that the female employee complained to upper management about the incident, but that management did not investigate or discipline the employee. Further, according to the EEOC, Dave's Supermarket eventually terminated the manager after another female employee complained that the manager sexually harassed her. In addition to the monetary amount, Dave's Supermarket must also provide mandatory training to all staff on sexual harassment and the company's obligations under Title VII, the definition of sexual harassment, how to maintain a harassment-free workplace, and a review of the laws prohibiting unlawful retaliation. EEOC Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence commented that "The decree here sends the same signal to employers that the EEOC has been sending for some time: sexual harassment is prohibited and the EEOC will move swiftly to stop itEmployers must promptly and thoroughly investigate sexual harassment complaints and must take effective steps to eliminate such harassment."...
Disciplining Employees Who Suffer From Mental Disabilities
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- Published on Monday, 09 May 2011 07:42
A growing number of employees suffer from mental disabilities such as anxiety, panic disorder and depression. Employers often struggle with how to discipline such employees for misconduct, especially when the misconduct involved arises from the disability itself. A recent case, Wills v. The Superior Court of Orange County, which sheds light on this complicated issue, is particularly insightful because it involves the added component of misconduct based on threats of violence. Linda Wills was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1997, which is a mental disability characterized by mood swings ranging from depression to manic episodes. In 1999, Ms. Wills began working for the Superior Court of Orange County (the OC Court) as a court processing specialist; she later became a court clerk. Although Ms. Wills took several medical leaves of absence while employed with the OC Court, she never advised the OC Court of her bipolar disorder. However, Ms. Wills did mention to some of her supervisors that she suffered from depression. In July 2007, OC Court assigned Ms. Wills to the Anaheim Police Department's lockup facility to help arraign criminal suspects by video. On July 3, 2007, Ms. Wills reported for work and rang the buzzer to be admitted, as it was a secure facility. To her dismay, she had to wait several minutes outside before being admitted. When she was final admitted, Wills swore and yelled at the Anaheim Police Department employees, accusing them of intentionally leaving her outside in the summer heat. Ms. Wills then told one officer that she added him and another police department employee to her "Kill Bill" list (a reference to the movie in which the main character put people on a list that she intended to kill). Many employees within the facility witnessed her outburst and viewed it as threatening. Ms. Wills disputed that these comments were meant to be threatening, and claimed that she was joking and that the other employee laughed at her comment....
School Bus Operator Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed by EEOC
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- Published on Wednesday, 09 February 2011 16:34
First Student, Inc., a school bus operator, has agreed to pay $150,000 and provide other relief, to settle a lawsuit for sexual harassment and retaliation filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to the EEOC, four female employees at the company were sexually harassed, retaliated against or forced to quit. First Student claims to be North America's leading school bus transportation services company. The EEOC alleges that a male supervisor at its facility in Los Angeles sexually harassed at least four women, including bus drivers and a human resources assistant. The supervisor began by allegedly making constant explicit remarks about their body parts and the sexual acts he wanted to perform on them. The harassment turned physical when the supervisor exposed himself and grabbed the breasts of a bus driver. The EEOC also contends that a male manager who received their complaints of harassment not only failed to correct the situation, but also disciplined one victim and transferred another in retaliation for complaining. The harasser cut another bus driver's hours upon refusal of his advances and promised extra hours to female employees who might acquiesce. Three of the victims felt forced to resign as a result of the ongoing harassment. In addition to the monetary settlement amount, First Student agreed to hire an outside EEO consultant to revamp the company's policies, complaint procedures, investigations and training of its employees on sex discrimination, harassment and retaliation. First Student must also require supervisors to report such complaints to the human resources department within 24 hours of receipt and create a centralized tracking system for those complaints....
Employer Liable for Harassment by Nonemployees
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- Published on Thursday, 06 January 2011 05:55
A recent case provides an interesting example of employer liability for harassing conduct by a nonemployee. The case involves Joyce Turman who worked for Turning Point of Central California, Inc. (hereinafter Turning Point), which is a halfway house where federal and state prisoners are housed to transition them into the workforce and society prior to their full release on parole. Ms. Turman worked as a resident monitor from 1999 until her termination in 2004. Residents at the facility, who were subject to progressive discipline, complained about the number of disciplinary citations issued by Ms. Turman. The residents complained to Ms. Turman's supervisor and he often reversed the citations. Ms. Turman wrote between 200 and 300 citations during her time at the half way house. However, Ms. Turman testified that she was not aware of a single incident in which her supervisor wrote up a resident for misconduct, even though she had seen residents visibly drunk. The disparity between the number of citations written by Ms. Turman versus her supervisor created tension in the house. In addition, Ms. Turman complained to her supervisor that the residents were subjecting her to a hostile work environment by propositioning her for sex, making sexual gestures and calling her names....
Comfort Suites Sued For Disability Discrimination
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- Published on Tuesday, 21 September 2010 11:00
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against Comfort Suites, which operates several hotels throughout California. The EEOC alleges that the Comfort Suites Mission Valley hotel in San Diego allegedly failed to reasonably accommodate a front desk employee and effectively disciplined and discharged him due to his disability, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Comfort Suites initially hired the front desk clerk in 2008. The employee, who is autistic, apparently had prior hotel experience in a similar position which earned him a positive recommendation. The EEOC alleges that upon hire, the employee was belittled by his supervisor, denied access to a state-funded job coach, disciplined and ultimately discharged within four months of hire. The EEOC also alleges that the employee was not only denied access to his job coach, but that the job coach was made to leave the premises despite the fact that she requested only to observe the employee working. The job coach would have allegedly provided services free of any charge to the hotel. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the employee and injunctive relief. According to Anna Y. Park, regional attorney for the EEOC's Los Angeles District Office, "Although it has been 20 years since the passage of the ADA, employers still need to understand that employees with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations which pose no undue hardship. . .Employers must heed such requests for reasonable accommodation, particularly when the requests entail little or no burden on business operations as in this case."...
