Sexual Harassment

Plaintiff demands that a court order her alleged sexual harasser to photograph his penis for inspection

April 28, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

As an employment lawyer, part of my practice involves training employees and supervisors on employee handbooks. Most often, my training focuses on respect in the workplace.

During these sessions, I employ many techniques to discourage the workforce from engaging in behavior that could create a hostile work environment. Usually, I’ll put it like this:

“If you would feel uncomfortable sitting in a witness box while having to explain your behavior to a federal jury, then it’s not something that you should do in the workplace.”

2 million reasons to avoid the EEOC’s same-sex-harassment crosshairs

April 3, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Last night, I read this press release from the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, announcing a $2 million recovery for 50 male employees of a New Mexico automobile dealership.

What happened, you say? From the press release:

“In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged a former lot manager, James Gallegos, under the direction of Charles Ratliff, Jr., then general manager, with subjecting a class of men to egregious forms of sexual harassment, including shocking sexual comments, frequent solicitations for oral sex, and regular touching, grabbing, and biting of male workers on their buttocks and genitals. The EEOC also alleged that Pitre retaliated against male employees who objected to the sexually hostile work environment. During the pendency of the lawsuit, the retaliatory actions of Pitre raised such concern that a U.S. District Court judge granted a preliminary injunction against Pitre, prohibiting the dealership and all of its agents from threatening or engaging in retaliatory actions against case participants.”

Is it unreasonable to tell your boss to stop sexually harassing you?

March 17, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

I can actually feel the daggers that some of you are staring into me.

So, please allow me to ~~reintroduce myself. My name is H-O~~ explain.

How to demonstrate sexual harassment

Employee wins sexual harassment case. (Employee is a prostitute)

March 6, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

[Cue music]

“Yes! Meyer is finally playing Five Finger Death Punch!”

— Not a single one of you

Choking a female co-worker and telling her she likes it rough could be sexual harassment

March 3, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

But, faced with those facts, that didn’t stop one employer from moving for summary judgment and asking the court to dismiss a female employee’s claims of sexual harassment.

Could the company have possibly prevailed? Find out after the jump…

Oh wait, before we jump, I left out the part where the plaintiff claimed that her male co-worker also told her, “I’ll have you cum before you get your pants off.”

And then there’s the time when that same co-worker said, “Hey! we got your Christmas present!” whereby he held up a vibrating tool and thrust it towards the plaintiff’s genitals.

And what about the other male co-worker who would routinely come up from behind the plaintiff, lean in and smell her in a sexual fashion while pushing his groin into her?

Or when another male co-worker said to the plaintiff, “I just like fucking with you, why would I want to get you fired? I would miss watching that ass of yours!”

Ok, now we can jump and play did the employer get the case dismissed on summary judgment?

* * *

Employee’s sexual harassment claims advance to trial because boobs

January 30, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Recently, I’ve focused blog posts on some quirky cases that make you think a bit. Yesterday, was the FMLA in Vegas case. Last week, was the EMT who argued that getting fired for groping a co-worker was discriminatory in light of his employer’s decision not fire an employee who hit a patient.

Today is not one of those cases.

This one is some OG sexual harassment.

GUEST POST: What legal rights do unpaid interns have?

January 21, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Samantha Hopkins. Samantha is a law student who just received her big break.

She gets to guest blog at The Employer Handbook!

(Want to guest blog on an employment-law topic at The Employer Handbook? Email me).

* * *

Why a single kiss could have one employer in boiling hot legal water

January 17, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

I give a lot of “respect in the workplace” trainings. And I generally tell the audience that, while a single offensive comment or act in the workplace is one incident too many, one instance generally does not create a winning lawsuit. That’s because a plaintiff must show that he/she was subjected to either severe (really, really bad) or pervasive (a lot of bad) behavior to establish a hostile work environment.

Now, there are some exceptions. New Jersey is one of the few states that has held that a single discriminatory comment can create an actionable hostile work environment claim.

But what if, instead of a slur, we have an assault; one which the plaintiff claims was not only unwelcome, but particularly disturbing?

Employee legally fired for complaining on Facebook about the boss’ “creapy hands”

December 2, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Generally speaking, those who wait five years to complain about perceived sexual harassment in the workplace, don’t win lawsuits if they are eventually fired.

But what happens when the complaint takes the form of a status update on Facebook? Does that offer the employee extra protection?

Find out after the jump…

Woman fired after getting sniffed by men 24 times may have a retaliation claim

November 25, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Play some Skynyrd, man!

(Just pretend the song is about reckless indulgences in the workplace, rather than drugs and needles and such, k?)

Well, this is a new one for me.