Accused of Misconduct After Filing a Sexual Harassment Claim

[Bing]

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Nevada

I filed a sexual harassment claim against my supervisor and noticed that my HR department was retaliating against me.

I began complaining to everyone at work that I'm being retaliated against.

One day someone( I will refer to as person A) at work (who has a personal vendetta at me) accused me of something I did not do. Person A cited two witnesses.

In the course of the HR investigation , HR found that the two witnesses cited by person A totally and completely exonerated me. The director of HR tried to intimidate the two witnesses who exonerated me into

going along with person A's false story. The two witnesses refused to go along with person A's story. The two witnessed told me about what happened in HR.

I want to confront HR with what these witnesses told me. My question is will the two witnesses get into trouble with HR for leaking HR specifics? What does the law say in this weird circumstance?

[Bing]

Would the law protect the two witnesses from retaliation if I told HR that during the course of my complaining to the witnesses (a protected activity) they told me that HR had tried to intimidate them into going along with person A's false story?

Would the EEOC fine or cite HR if they knew HR tried to intimidate the witnesses into falsely implicating me?

Would the EEOC fine or cite HR if they knew HR was trying to make a case to fire me by intimidating the witnesses?

[cbg]

I'm sorry, how can you possibly expect us to know what your HR department (or the EEOC, for that matter) will do? The crystal ball is out for repairs.

[hazedandconfused]

This happened to me while working for a private doctors' association in Lansing. I was dragged into an elevator by the executive director, I fought him off, and when I ran to HR to tell the manager about it, she told me she'd have to investigate. My other male co-workers started being rude and disrespectful, and I was afterwards terminated on the charge that I hacked my boss's email (I had pre-authorized sharing rights to his calendar system to upload to his Palm Pilot.)

I was told by an attorney that I would have next to no chance in fighting the firing because it happened about 3 weeks later and on an unrelated matter, and because I was an "at-will" employee. Essentially, at-will means you have no rights, unless you get fired for being a whistleblower on something the company did, that you can actually document (fraud on the part of the company, illegal waste handling, etc. stuff with a paper trail or evidence.)

Good luck!

[ESteele]

First, OP, stop talking to “everyone”! If you intend to pursue charges against your current employer, you need (1) to remain above reproach and (2) to operate wisely at all times. Unless you need to inform an individual of something related to your case, you do not have a need to update him or her.

Second, if you believe management is conspiring against you in an effort to retaliate against you, you should contact local counsel and/or the EEOC (or a FEPA) to file a retaliation charge. If you can prove your allegations, Title VII would consider such conduct retaliatory. Furthermore, Title VII would protect individuals who truthfully reported what they witnessed from retaliation for not supporting a cabal against you.

Third, whether the EEOC would find “probable cause” that your employer plotted to retaliate against you would depend on the facts the agency adduced during its investigation.

Fourth, if you have a solid harassment claim and/or retaliation claim, you have a good chance of finding private counsel to champion your cause. Your interests will likely be better protected if you have an attorney endeavoring to advance your case.

Finally, did the HR department complete its “investigation” into your harassment allegations? If so, what did the HR representatives tell you? Did the underlying harassment cease?

Separately for Hazedandconfused, you need or needed to consult with other counsel if the facts of your matter are indeed as you reported. Based on your post, it does not appear that the individual you consulted with had a sufficient understanding of how to proceed with a sexual harassment-retaliation claim. If the limitations period has not expired on filing a charge, you should promptly file an administrative charge and/or meet with other counsel.