The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently filed a collective lawsuit on behalf of a corporation’s female employees for alleged sexual harassment and retaliation. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, residents at the facilities would inappropriately grab female employees, ask for sexual favors, and use inappropriate sexual language around them. When the female employees complained about the harassing behavior to administration, the company’s management did nothing to stop the harassment or prevent it from recurring. Instead, the company retaliated against a female employee who reported the harassment by suspending her without pay and then firing her within days of her complaint.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual harassment and retaliation.
After first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process, the lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the female employees subjected to the sexual harassment, backpay for the employee subjected to retaliation, and appropriate injunctive relief to prevent similar discrimination in the future.
“When an employer learns that an employee is being sexually harassed, the employer must act immediately regardless of whether the alleged harasser is a manager, employee, or client,” said one regional attorney regarding the suit. The director of the EEOC’s Denver Field Office added, “It is absolutely critical that employers develop policies and procedures to ensure that employees who report harassment are not punished for doing so. Employees should be applauded for coming forward but, too often, we see employees punished for protesting illegal discrimination.”
Compliance Perspective
While some residents may have mental conditions that cause them to be sexually inappropriate toward caregivers and other residents, allowing this behavior to continue to the point of creating a hostile work environment, and then retaliating against an employee for reporting the conduct, may violate employees’ civil rights that are protected by federal law.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures for prevention of sexual harassment of employees and residents. Ensure that protocols are in place for monitoring residents exhibiting inappropriate behavior and preventing sexual harassment of staff and other residents.
- Train staff about their right to a non-hostile work environment and how to redirect residents’ expressing aberrant sexual behaviors. Teach staff to report such incidents to their immediate supervisor or through the facility’s Hotline.
- Periodically audit by anonymously polling staff to determine if they are being sexually harassed or experiencing discrimination and ask if they feel free to report such instances without fear of retaliation or retribution.
