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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    3

    Default What to Do About Discrimination, Harassment and Mistreatment at Work

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

    My wife works in a large company which we will call "ACOMPANY". She has worked there over 1.5 years. In the last 6 months management in her department changed. The Department Head (whom we will call "Brand") has been sexually harassing the girls there, so that it is just barely creepy. However he only gives this "special attention" too young cute single girls. My opinion of the man is that he is a 40 year old high school drop out that buddied his way to the position he is in now, however he is hitting on and giving special attention to 18-26 year olds. The other married woman including my wife do not receive this special attention. These girls and his bro-friends are constantly given opportunities that the haven't earned. Brand has been dangling and promising a promotion to my wife for 3 months now, however when the last two opportunities came, he did not even give her a interviews, and gave the positions to people less qualified of whom he flirts with or is pals with. My wife is not the only one to be promised a promotion and not get it in this fashion. This discrimination, is only topped by the fact that with these girls he discusses personal life matters, dating life, exchanges private non-work related emails, and more. He is constantly leering, or staring at young girls. He even has commented on one of the girls he has promoted about how her butt looks when she stands different ways. All this happens in public and in plain sight. He will stow away in private meetings with certain girls for hours at a time. Recently he threw a party, and joked that my wife couldn't come because she was married. This has created a very hostile work environment. My wife comes home in tears every other day, and only because of work lately. Before this last 2 or 3 months she was the happiest person anyone ever knew, she was the person everyone wants to be around because she spreads happiness and fun. Not since the work environment went hostile.

    So we have thus far suggested Sexual harassment and Discrimination. To top it off we have defamation.

    My wife's immediate supervisor (it goes team lead, supervisor, assistant director, director, with Brand being a director), but her supervisor (we will call her "Emily") took a co-worker of my wives ("Mace") and told him that he should not hang around my wife, that she is poison, a snake, and that anything my wife says should be ignored. She then asked him if my wife was the reason he was having issues with another to the team leads. He said no, in fact my wife has been nothing but supportive of the team lead, and has tried to help him support the leadership. Emily would have none of it though, and continued to attempt to threaten and intimidate him all the while slandering my wife, behind her back. My wife is one of the top performers in their workspace, always in the top 3, and sometimes she has asked the hard questions that no one else would, or brought up flaws in the system, because she cares. Because of this the brand and his staff constantly back-stab and gossip like little high schoolers behind her back.

    So we now have d Sexual harassment and Discrimination and Defamation in the form of slander, and I am sure that with viewing emails there would be libel too.

    By this point you may be questioning the credibility of my wife and I. I am a successful software engineer, and have recently architected and engineered certain high end technologies that will evolve the medical field, and have also developed many applications for big name clients. Yes I am young, but I am driven, and try to obtain knowledge at a insatiable rate. However while I have a good feel for arguing, and the logic and principles of law, I am by no means knowledgable. I need help in what we should do, from people who are knowledgable.

    We went to HR the very next day after the slander, and brought all this to the attention of one of the heads of HR, who seemed to think my wife should just transfer departments. This is not acceptable, as the hostile work environment my wife has had to put up with demands that action happen. Yet HR seems reluctant to care, thinking we will just go away if she transfers. We have been asked to be kept updated, and have not heard anything. HR says they are interviewing people, however, from the people my wife knows on the inside nothing is happening. HR said these are very serious accusations and could ruin Brand's career, and hurt a lot of people. We asked him if it was more important for the company to save face or to do what is right, and he said, well obviously we are here to do what is right, and that HR could take care of it. But nothing has been done. He referred my wife to recruitment for transfer and that is it.

    We think my wife should quit altogether. She already quit the department the day we went into HR. We told them it was to hostile for her to return. He did not like the way I worded things, and gave me menacing looks the entire time.

    We then informed HR that we are filing complaints with the Utah Labor Commission and the EEOC. He said that was fine if we want to, but thinks we should wait till he finishes his investigation, whenever that is.

    Should we contact lawyers? What to do? We want justice, this doesn't need to keep happening. I think we have a case. Do we?

    Thank you very much.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: What Should We Do About a Series of Discrimination, Harassment, and Defamation

    YOU do not have diddly. This is entirely your wife's issue. You personally do not have squat. There is no "we" in employment situations. (Don't give me "what affects her affects you - that's not going to cut it where this issue is concerned).

    What your wife should do is wait for HR to finish their investigation. That's their job. I assure you that when SHE calls the EEOC the first thing they will ask her is what actions she took to resolve it through the company. You will not be given a chance to talk.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    3

    Default Re: What Should We Do About a Series of Discrimination, Harassment, and Defamation

    Quote Quoting cbg
    View Post
    YOU do not have diddly. This is entirely your wife's issue. You personally do not have squat. There is no "we" in employment situations. (Don't give me "what affects her affects you - that's not going to cut it where this issue is concerned).

    What your wife should do is wait for HR to finish their investigation. That's their job. I assure you that when SHE calls the EEOC the first thing they will ask her is what actions she took to resolve it through the company. You will not be given a chance to talk.
    That is all very nice and well, and I had assumed as much. My wife is perfectly capable of handling herself, and the fact of the matter is, that my wife does have my extensive resources at her disposal in order to bring the hammer down. From the negligent answer you gave, I still extracted the fact that my wife does indeed have something here. Your insensitivity is astonishing, for the hell my wife has had to endure recently.

    As for calling the EEOC, we are sending in a written statement with the attached form. They may indeed call my wife, but it is a simple matter to repeat what WE wrote on the form.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
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    Default Re: What Should We Do About a Series of Discrimination, Harassment, and Defamation

    There is nothing negligent about warning you not to get in the way of your wife's claim or about suggesting that she not jump the gun and shoot herself in the foot by filing too quickly. Either could kill a potential claim before it got started.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: What Should We Do About a Series of Discrimination, Harassment, and Defamation

    Yet you came in with a obvious chip on your shoulder, instead of explaining the issue at hand like you just did in the previous post. So I need to not get in the way. OK, then what does my wife need to do to not jump the gun or shoot herself in the foot? How do these matters proceed?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: What Should We Do About a Series of Discrimination, Harassment, and Defamation

    I already told you. She needs to let HR do their job. If two to three weeks go by and and the illegal behavior has not stopped, she will have a much stronger claim going to the EEOC than she will if she doesn't give them a chance to address the problem. The EEOC WILL ask.

    Let's be clear, by the way, what is illegal and what is not. Giving special attention to the younger women may or may not be depending on exact circumstance. Comments about body parts most likely are. Giving promotions to less qualified people is not. What you have described is not even close to enough for a defamation claim.

    Be aware that HR has no legal obligation to tell your wife what action has been taken, or to fire the offenders or to make any discipline public. Their ONLY obligation is to make any illegal behavior stop. They The proof is in the pudding. If the illegal behavior stops, they have done what they need to do. If it doesn't, THEN she should take the reports outside.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    38,867

    Default Re: What Should We Do About a Series of Discrimination, Harassment, and Defamation

    rebuke;

    you have to understand that an employer is required to correct the illegal action. They will be given that opportunity to do so once they have been notified of the illegal actions. It is after they have been notified of the illegal actions and fail to take corrective actions that you start looking at the EEOC taking action. By you and your wife (what the Hell are you doing injecting yourself into your wife's employment situation?. If she worked for me and you did that, she wouldn't work for me any longer. You have no business involving yourself so directly) speaking to management, they have been put on notice. If they take corrective action and the illegal actions stop, that's the end of it. If it doesn't stop, then the EEOC will take action to demand the employer take corrective action and/or mete out punitive acts.

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