New York Sexual Harassment Lawyer Blog

According to a recent Newsweek article between 1992 and 2008 the EEOC has seen a doubling of sexual-harassment charges filed by men from 8 percent to 16 percent. The charges mostly include same-sex sexual harassment, although some are cases of women sexually harassing men.

The Article quotes Marcia McCormick, a specialist in employment and gender issues and professor at Saint Louis University School of Law, as stating: “Sexual harassment is about using power in a way to hurt somebody.” Sexual harassment in the workplace of both sexes is often about control, power, and humiliation, rather than sexual attraction, the Article asserts.

The Article notes that the U.S. Supreme Court over 20 years ago in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services recognized that an individual may bring a sexual harassment suit when the harasser and harassee employee are of the same sex. In that case a smaller male employee on an oil rig was harassed by co-workers and a supervisor, and in one instance was sexually assaulted by co-workers.

Further, the Article proposed that the economic times may be a factor in the increase,as it is more likely that managers are not be training to handle sexual harrassment issues, as often times those are the programs that are reduced or cut altogether. The Article proposes that in fact maybe instances of same-sex sexual harassment is not on the rise, but men themselves are more comfortable coming forward with such claims.

Please see the Newsweek article for the full report: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/01/12/abuse-of-power.html

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission won a $1.26 million dollar verdict in a sexual harassment case against Paul’s Big M grocery store after proving 10 years of misconduct by the a former general manager during a two-week trial.

The lawsuit centered around a class of female employees, several of whom were high school teenagers, at the upstate New York grocery store, according to the EEOC press release. The award of $1,260,080 was comprised of $1.25 million in punitive damages and $10,080 in compensatory damages.

The offending manager, allegedly repeatedly sexually harassed females at his store until he was fired in 2010, even after pleading guilty to criminal charges of harassment in 2008, according to the EEOC. The EEOC claimed the sexual conduct included proposing sexual encounters with the mother of a teenage cashier, putting his tongue in a teenage cashier’s mouth, and the grabbing and touching of female employees.

According to the EEOC, although complaints were made about the harassment, the working environment continued without remedy, forcing some female employees to quit. The EEOC stated that the verdict is a strong message to employers to ensure non-discriminatory working conditions, especially where teenagers are involved.

More information is available here.

The New York Jets and former Quarterback Brett Farve are facing new sexual harassment allegations according to a law suit filed by two team employees in New York Supreme Court last week.

Farve had been investigated by the NFL over the last several months surrounding claims that he sent sexually explicit photos to another former team employee, Jenn Sterger. Sterger did not bring any lawsuit as of yet, however, Farve conduct was question by the league for violating its code of conduct. Farve was not fined or suspended for this conduct, but was fined $50,000 by the league for failing to cooperate with its investigation.

The present allegations claim that Farve, while a Jets employee in 2008, sent text message from his phone to two Jets team masseurs. The messages allegedly include Farve’s offers to the employees to pursue an inappropriate relationship with him. Additionally, there are allegations that before this law suit was filed, another Jets employee, who supervised the team’s masseurs, Lisa Ripi, told the two Plaintiffs to “keep your mouth shut” among other threats.

The New York Jets, throughout this season, have been faced with a number of these startling allegations. In addition to the Farve incidents, a reporter for a Spanish television station claimed that she was made to feel uncomfortable and the object of sexually inappropriate behavior by the players while the reporter was visiting the team’s practice facilities earlier this season.