When defending against a woman’s sexual harassment claim, I’ve found that “she was asking for it” is generally a bad defense. So bad, in fact, that you may just want to whip out the old checkbook instead. Another crappy one, apparently, is trying to convince a judge that an industrial…
Articles Posted in Sexual Harassment
HR-101: Did an NFL fan create a hostile work environment by throwing a sex toy on the field?
At halftime of my seven-year-old’s soccer game, I was perusing my slow weekend RSS feed. Of the seven Feedly items, one stood out: a “news” from Deadspin (NSFW) about a fan who hit the five yard line with a phallus toss (video is NSFW) during the third quarter of the National Football League…
Blaming the victim is a bad way to respond to a sexual harassment complaint
Indeed, it cost a southern baptist church $25,000. According to this press release from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the church is writing that check because: One of its kindergarten teachers complained that the pastor, who was also the school superintendent, had been sexually harassing her; Church officials informed…
This, right here, is why a good workplace investigation is EVERYTHING!
You received a complaint of sexual harassment from a female employee against a male co-worker. So, you promptly investigate, during which you interview the complainant and the alleged harasser, and review documents. When the investigation ends, you conclude that the female complainant — not the male co-worker — was the sexual harasser. So, you promptly…
Yes, your company may get nailed for a hostile work environment created by your customer
Just when you thought it was tough enough to keep your own workforce in line. Mack the Knife (except without the murder). The plaintiff in this case worked as a van driver — no, not that van driver — for a senior center for a little over six years. To say…
Sexual harassment — same as it ever was
On Tuesday, the EEOC announced here that it had resolved a sexual harassment lawsuit with a Dunkin Donuts franchise for $150,000. What’s so blog-worthy about that? Well, two reasons: It gives me an excuse to highlight this excellent post from Jon Hyman at the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog. Focusing on recent comments…
Trailblazing federal court flatly rejects one free tea-bagging at work
No, not that tea-bagging. And just when you thought that Your Blogness couldn’t possibly raise his game (raise, right?) after yesterday’s fart post. (Yes, the next 1000+ words will either be my G.O.A.T. or my Waterloo, which, I’m told, is bad.) I imagine that some of you are thinking, “I…
By the power of Title VII! Woman called “He-Man” loses gender-bias claim
Look, no one forced you to read this. Or click on that video. Hey, happy Thursday to you from The Employer Handbook. Now, with 100% fewer penis trees. (Yeah, sorry about that. If you got yesterday’s post via email, the free stock image I used — from a database of…
This sad, sobering video is a reminder that your company still employs knuckledraggers #MoreThanMean
Most of you have either seen or heard about Mean Tweets from Jimmy Kimmel Live! That’s the segment where celebrities stand in front of the camera with smartphone in hand awkwardly reading the snippets of vitriol that Twitters users can spew about them in 140 characters or less. The celebrities have a…
GUEST POST: Workplace lessons for employers from Ke$ha and Dr. Luke
We have an extra-special guest blogger today. It’s my mentee, Meaghan Londergan. (Sorry, folks, all of The Karate Kid images were copyright protected). Sadly, I no longer work with Meaghan. But, in her defense, there’s only so much Meyer that a young impressionable associate can take. Since then, Meaghan’s been…