• 29
  • August
    2011

When people think about an environment that is hostile to work in, there are normally a few things that come to mind. We think about bosses who request sexual favors quid pro quo, co-workers who make sexual jokes, and unwanted touching or advances from anyone in the office.

It doesn't matter what type of company an individual works for, there is some behavior that is absolutely inappropriate at any business in San Francisco. Unfortunately, one company missed that notice. Because the company sold sex, the company assumed they were excused from protecting their female employees from sexual harassment in the workplace.

One woman spent four years working at a wholesaler of adult sexual products. However, after complaining to her manager about unwanted sexual advances from a co-worker, she was fired.

Although the company had a generally sexual environment, the woman testified that she did not mind the environment until a new employee joined the company as a salesman. According to one article, "It was his harassing conduct that she claimed was a violation of law, leading to her complaints to management and to her retaliatory firing."

The salesman had an angry side and lost his temper at work. However, he also made numerous inappropriate sexual comments. According to court documents, the salesman "expressed a desire to clear her desk and then ravish her on it; stated that she would give oral sex to anyone for an order; and suggested that she engaged in oral sex with [a customer] as a means of obtaining lucrative business for the company."

The woman complained verbally and via email to her boss. Although her boss investigated the situation, he said there was no basis for truth. The emails she sent to her boss were forwarded to the company president and the company's co-owner.

The co-owner reprimanded the woman and the salesman for not working well together, and he said they would both be fired if their sales numbers did not improve. The salesman was fired the next month for poor sales performance. The woman was fired a short time later for causing a disruption in the workplace.

A judge eventually ruled that even a sexually charged workplace could still be a sexually hostile workplace, and he stated the firing the woman in retaliation was illegal. The woman received $640,000 for the treatment she endured.

Source: Daily Business Review, "Even a sex-toy purveyor can have a sexually hostile workplace," David Gialanella, Aug. 19, 2011