Hastings and Hastings offers some tips to employers for evading a sexual harassment lawsuit
Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) May 29, 2015 -- Hastings and Hastings offers some tips to employers for evading a sexual harassment lawsuit. Sexual harassment constitutes a hostile workplace, and victims of a hostile workplace can seek monetary compensation for distress caused by their employer. Hastings and Hastings hopes to educate employers on a specific type of sexual harassment that occurs when an employee fails to report sexual harassment to human resources.
The question on everyone’s mind is whether or not a successful suit can be pressed if sexual harassment goes unreported. The simple answer is yes. Described below is a case involving unreported sexual harassment, and a brief analysis of its impact on sexual harassment suits.
The case at hand involves an employee at an unnamed location who was allegedly sexually harassed by her supervisor, to which she responded by telling her supervisor to stop. This employee was later fired, and she retaliated by claiming sexual harassment. The case made its way to the Six Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in her favor, thus showing that sexual harassment can be charged even if it goes formally unreported. The court’s ruling was as follow:
We conclude that a demand that a supervisor cease his/her harassing conduct constitutes protected activity covered by Title VII. Sexual harassment is without question an “unlawful employment practice.” If an employee demands that his/her supervisor stop engaging in this unlawful practice—i.e., resists or confronts the supervisor’s unlawful harassment—the opposition clause’s broad language confers protection to this conduct.
But this does not mean a surge of sexual harassment charges is likely to follow. It still must be proved that the plaintiff was fired for reasons related to the sexual harassment incident. If the employee was fired for independent reasons, for instance bad performance, then the suit will most likely prove unsuccessful.
The recent ruling, however, is a call to action for employers. Employers should educate their employees to report sexual harassment allegations immediately, or else employers can become tangled up in an expensive lawsuit. If you’d like to learn more, please reach out to an attorney at Hastings and Hastings.
Kristi Guell, Hastings and Hastings, http://hastingsandhastings.com, +1 (480) 706-1100, [email protected]
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