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The Employer Handbook BlogNo pants in the office leads to sexual harassment claims, you guys.
i·ro·ny (noun)
/ˈīrənē,ˈiərnē/
1. the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Articles Posted in Sexual Harassment
How not to respond when an employee complains about sexual harassment
If true, well then, good gawd, this!
Court destroys my “Ravishing Rick Rude” theory of same-sex harassment
A little over a year ago, I wrote here about a steel worker named Kerry Woods. Unfortunately for Mr. Woods, he was on the receiving end of a constant barrage of “raw homophobic epithets and lewd gestures” from his supervisor. Notwithstanding, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out a $500K jury award for Mr. Woods, holding that Mr. Woods’s same-sex sexual harassment claims failed because he failed to satisfy the Supreme Court’s test in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc..
Oncale was another same-sex harassment case involving employees at an oil rig. In Oncale, the high court held that a jury may infer that same-sex harassment occurred because of sex when the plaintiff can produce:
Body shots + booty shorts + live office sex = no sexual harassment
Sounds like one crazy party. Or just another Thursday at the Pine Woods Apartments.
Kristen Glemser had no idea…
On December 7, 2006, Kristen Glemser, a marketing/leasing agent for Pine Woods showed up for work, just like she would any other day. Except that some of the ladies in the office had planned a small party of one of Ms. Glemser’s female co-workers.
Paula Deen discrimination lawsuit dismissed after parties settle
On Friday, a federal court in Georgia dismissed all of the remaining discrimination counts against Paula Deen and her brother, Bubba, after the parties reported to the court that the two sides had settled.
The settlement terms are undisclosed.
In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, Ms. Deen’s publicist wrote:
A woman sharing topless photos at work prolly isn’t an invitation to grope her
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Dear Google User Who Got Five Words Into The Lede And Clicked:
The one about the porta-potty harassment
Hey, they can’t all be about Brazilian waxes and irresistible attraction. After the jump, we get down and dirty.
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YYYOUCH! Employee fired for refusing Brazilian wax claims sex discrimination.
You know, maybe I should have gone with the porta-potty-harassment post that I originally had planned for today. Nah. My analytics tell me that my best-received posts have a common theme: crotch and Brazil. Besides, everyone knows that nothing says Friday like a porta-potty post. Just wait ’til Friday.
So today, after the jump, let’s wax poetic, shall we?
(Ouch, again).
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Employee teased with small penis jokes has a viable sexual harassment claim
[Whichever one of you had the voodoo doll positioned in such a way that wouldn’t allow me to pun this lede, I’m gonna git you sucka!]
In Hayes v. Erickson Air-Crane, Co. (opinion here), a male plaintiff was constantly barraged with small penis nicknames from his male co-workers ranging from “little jimi” to “tiny tim” to “dodgeball” (based on Ben Stiller’s White Goodman character). He didn’t like it, and sued.
The Court found that, based on this behavior, a jury could find that the plaintiff could potentially prevail on his sexual harassment claims because a jury may find that he was subjected to unwelcome sexual comments that were pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment.
Grab-ass in the workplace may be sexual harassment, you guys
Biting the staff doesn’t help either; even if it doesn’t leave a mark.
You see, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.