New York Sexual Harassment Lawyer Blog

Recently, Hewlett-Packard made headlines due to the company's investigation into the allegedly sexually inappropriate conduct of its former Chief Executive Officer, Mark Hurd. After an investigation, Hurd resigned and received a severance payment in accordance with the terms of his employment agreement. Hurd was subsequently hired by Silicon Valley rival, Oracle, for a top leadership position in that company.

However, some Hewlett-Packard shareholders have now brought suit against the company claiming that the corporate board "did not fulfill their duties in the ouster [of Hurd] and severance agreement." At the moment, the documents relating to these suits are not public, but they seek information regarding the Board's inquiry into the sexual harassment allegations against Hurd.

These law suits are significant in that they can have an impact regarding the liability of a corporation as well as its Board of Directors in terms of their handling of sexual harassment and discrimination claims against employees.

The full text of the Forbes Magazine article can be found here.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has reported that a major construction company has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit for $125,000

According to the EEOC's claims, female employees were subjected "to a sexually hostile work environment which included telling stories of sexual exploits, derogatory remarks about females, inappropriate sexual comments and engaging in unwelcome touching of a sexual nature."

Besides the monetary relief, the company has agreed to revise its sexual harassment policy and to provide training to its employees and staff.

EEOC Regional Attorney Robert Weisberg stated that, “Employers have an obligation under federal law to provide all of their employees with a workplace free from such misconduct.”

More information regarding this issue can be found here.

Terre Haut-Sidal Inc., the owner of several fast food restaurants, will pay $150,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the EEOC. In addition to monetary damages, Sidal was required to enter into a five-year consent decree according to which Sidal is to train his employees on sexual harassment avoidance and to monitor its facilities to make sure that harassing behavior does not occur.

The EEOC charged that at least one former manager at a Terre Haut fast food restaurant violated federal laws by subjecting teenage female employees to unwelcome sexual comments, sexual advances, sexual grouping and sexual assault.