• 08
  • February
    2012

When a person reports sexual harassment to his or her employer, it is the employer's responsibility to address the situation appropriately. Responding "appropriately" could include reviewing the sexual harassment policy with the alleged harasser or taking disciplinary action him or her.

A sexual harassment complaint should never be resolved by firing the person who reported the harassment. Retaliation is illegal in California and every other state. Unfortunately that doesn't stop companies from firing employees if the company is worried the employee's honesty could tarnish the company's reputation. And that is exactly what happened to a rising star in one corporation.

Stephanie was a rising star at a corporate real estate institute. She was having dinner with her boss when she asked about her pending promotion. According to the lawsuit, "He grabbed her hand...without her consent, he forcibly placed her hand on his crotch and his erect penis."

Stephanie told her boss that "she was not that kind of girl," and she reported the incident. Shortly after reporting the matter, her boss resigned "for health reasons." Then, Stephanie was informed her $98,000-a year position no longer existed, and there was no specific job in which she could be placed.

When the company's vice president was contacted, he denied that Stephanie was fired for reporting sexual harassment. Moreover, he insisted that Stephanie "continues to have a job and we have urged her to return to work," though she has not been in since September.

It's impossible to know exactly what happened in the weeks following Stephanie's sexual harassment accusations. Hopefully justice will be brought to the situation with the lawsuit.

Source: NYDailyNews, "Harassed then NYU job vanished, she says," Barbara Ross, Jan. 25, 2012