Not asking for official legal advice, just trying to confirm that I have done the proper things.
The short and vague version: My daughter experienced unspecified sexual harrassment from a superior. She made it clear, in the context of an unrelated situation, that she is not okay with it. Her work hours subsequently suffered and reports were made to her coworkers of an issue the superior had with her on-the-job actions. However, no such report was ever made to her; she officially has no knowledge of any complaints against her and has only ever received compliments on her work from any supervisor.
This was all reported to her company earlier this week; she is now seeing indications that the superior has been spoken to. As we have received no information on the investigation and no indication that co-workers have been spoken to about the allegation (it’s relevant as some of them admitted to my daughter that they had experienced similar harrassment), I’m thinking we should perhaps cover our bases and report the entire thing to the EEOC. What do you think?
She is 18. Although I could file a claim on her behalf, because when looking at the EEOC website I discovered that it is possible to do so, I will not be filing for her. My interest is in protecting her legal rights and her personal security; in this instance she is in over her head and actually needs some guidance. Since I have no experience in this area I am asking for opinions and if necessary will assist her in finding legal representation.
Hire a lawyer. The lawyer can handle the EEOC complaint and the possible resulting lawsuit. The lawyer will know the ins and outs of the law and know what to put in the EEOC complaint, and how to phrase things.
Have your daughter document everything, even things that don’t seem important. Dates, names, titles, management structure, etc. You never know what’s going to be important. For instance, in some discrimination lawsuits, where an employee screwed up but was punished more harshly than an opposite sex/race/age employee, you have to show that the favored employee was similarly situated in all respects. Two years after the fact, in the middle of the lawsuit, who remembers if Bob in accounting reported to the same manager or if Kristy in the stockroom had as many write-ups? So it’s important to get that information now.
NOTE: I am not your lawyer. See my first suggestion. I don’t handle civil rights complaint; I’m not offering legal advice. I’m probably not licensed where you live (like a 55/56 or so chance I’m not).
I was really hoping we could avoid hiring a lawyer, as we really don’t have the funds to do so and neither does she, but if we must, we’ll find one somehow.
I have been telling her to write down everything from the moment I heard about the situation. I will send her a link to this thread so she knows it’s not just coming from mom.
ETA: Thank you for your post; I really do appreciate the information.
I’m so afraid to do the wrong thing that I don’t want to say too much. But the actual sexual harrassment was ‘accidental’ touching of the rear. It happened more than once and was witnessed by co-workers. She didn’t really appreciate him staring at her breasts either. But she thought she had to put up with that sort of thing until she could find another job.
This is a middle-aged guy who works with teenagers all the time, by the way. And she’s worked for other middle-aged guys who behaved appropriately, so it’s not a condemnation of all middle-aged guys, just this one.
The investment in a lawyer may be worth it; he will know exactly what to do in the situation, and how to handle things. If you need recommendations, contact a state or local bar association. They should send you in the right direction.
And that’s good that you’re telling her to write everything down; document, document, document. A carefully detailed record with the names of all those present is going to help out so much down the road if the whole thing has to be battled by proxy with lawyers or through an HR department.
Good luck, and try to keep us updated if you can. I’d like to hear that everything worked out.
Make sure your daughter knows that such behavior is unacceptable, and not her fault. She should not have to “find another job” because of her supervisor’s harassment. Ultimately, he should be the one finding another job. Harassers and abusers typically seek out meek victims, who tend to rationalize the abuse as their fault. Don’t let your daughter fall into that trap.
We’ve talked it over now that her string of scheduled work days has come to an end, and things have dramatically changed at work - the boss is making a bit of a show in avoiding touching her (hands in the air, always saying ‘excuse me’) but her hours are now returning to approximately the number they were in the beginning, and her co-workers are now allowed to switch with her if needed, she has been called in to help out at busy times, so she’s happier and things are improving.
The attorney had not returned my phone call and when he did today, I told him about the entire situation, including that her complaint to the owners of the franchise seems to have settled the situation, and we agreed that we would wait a while to see if this is a ‘honeymoon’ period with the manager. If things continue as they are, fine; and if not, we’ll file the complaint then. We have a few months to watch and see before we have to make a decision either way.
I’m still waiting to hear from the franchise owners as to the results of their investigation. I have doubts that they have done anything other than discussed the situation with the manager. Personally, I would like to see him moved from contact with young kids; they could promote him if he’s such a valuable employee but once my daughter transfers schools (she’s at a branch campus this year and goes to main campus next year), someone else will come along and I’m concerned that he will just continue with the new girls.
Also, check for legal aid societies in your area. They or local/state bar associations will, at the very least, connect you lawyers who will at least look at the situation for nothing or reduced rates. I would also make sure your daughter is ready to take this on. Pursuing this type of litigation has more than monetary costs, and if she is not ready or willing to deal with it she may not handle it well.
Is this high school or college? Either way, maybe you could take your concerns to a counselor at school, as a job that young women should be wary of. Even if he’s not touching her (or anyone else) I’ll bet he’s still leering at her. I think that you’re right, he shouldn’t be working with young women, and if he continues to do so, his employers might be liable for allowing him to work with youngsters.
It sounds like the right things have been done in terms of making a complaint.
Unless you want to go down the road of claiming lost wages or pain and suffering, I think you’re acting appropriately with the wait and see approach. Also, with management addressing it once it was brought to their attention, claims of damages would be unlikely to hold up. The entity that gets sued is the company, and they can only be held accountable for acting once they’ve been notified. Now, if you think there is a history of complaints against this guy that have been getting pushed under the rug, that opens up more exposure for the company.
Based on my experience in HR, you, or even your daughter, are not actually entitled to know what was/is being done to address the situation. It comes down to this being a disciplinary action against another employee and that being confidential. Your daughter is, however, entitled to be vigilant to make sure she doesn’t receive any additional harassment or retaliation. Her questions should be answered to the extent that they are about her–what’s on record about her performance, why she’s getting certain hours, etc. What the franchise’s manager/HR will probably say is that if the situation isn’t in fact resolved or reoccurs, let them know ASAP.
If this is a branch of a chain restaurant on a university campus, the university may also have an Office of Equal Opportunity or something similar that could be an intermediate step before getting a lawyer and going to the EEOC.
This restaurant isn’t part of the campus or even on the same side of town. My daughter’s a freshman in college and this really threw her for a loop. But she sounded much happier this weekend than she has in quite a while so I think the wait and see approach is the best for now. She told me the owners contacted her today but she didnt’ answer the call; she wanted to talk to me to see what she should tell them. I told her to tell them the truth, that the situation has improved. I will be interested in hearing what they say when they do call me.
IMO, I wouldn’t be so quick to say the situation has improved. I’m basing this on your earlier comment:
Sounds to me like the owners have indeed talked to him, and he’s being a bit of a prick (excuse the pun) about it. True improvement would be him behaving in a normal, adult manner toward her- not touching her AND not making a show of not touching her. If any coworkers aren’t aware of the situation, they’re certainly going to wonder why the manager is treating her this way, which raises all sorts of gossip possibilities. If they are aware, and have been appropriately counseling by their management to not discuss it, it doesn’t make much of a case for them needing to keep their mouths shut if the guy in charge has turned it into a game of charades.
I’m glad the hours situation has been worked out, but I think your daughter should also insist that this childish bullshit stop as well. Who wants a constant reminder of someone else’s poor boundaries?
Also agree with those who have said the chances of you being brought in the loop as far as what the manager’s punishment is are near non-existent. The owners would open themselves up for all sorts of legal problems if they did.
I knew a young saleswoman that got “accidentally butt touched” once. The butt-toucher was her boss, who was a guy that I had known for years and he wasn’t generally a creep.
It was a small company, similar to the one I worked for at the time, just him and her and 1 other person.
She never said anything. It never happened again. It affected her profoundly, she was NEVER comfortable being in the same room with him, and in a small office that was most of the time. It made her completely miserable. I will never understand why she stayed.
Myself, I’ve been accidentally butt-touched so many times I should install one of those buzzy things like they have in a museum if you touch the art…OK, I’m exaggerating but it happened 3, 4 times at least…usually from men I worked with and knew well. I’m not sure what was going through their testosterone riddled brains at that moment…maybe they decided that it was finally time to make their big move or more likely it was a momentary lapse of impulse control. But myself, I took it in stride and hit each one with a warning look and never really thought about it again. But the fact that I can blow this stuff off does not invalidate the feelings of women that can’t, besides I was older and the grabbees were usually clients I was making big commissions off of, not co-workers
I’m not saying it’s right, its not. But it seems as if your daughter has been really affected by this and continues to be affected by it. I can’t help but wonder if the best thing all around is for her to go out and get another job at another fast food place. She’s young and entry level food service jobs are pretty fungible. Sure, that means her manager will have “gotten away with it” and it may seem like caving, but at some point her happiness should outweigh all that.
It’s not her fault, she is right and it SHOULD be the guy who has to find another job. But that’s probably not going to happen without a fight and having to stress about this all day at work must suck, especially if there are other places she could work happily and without stress.
I’m probably going to get slayed for posting this but it’s how I feel.
I won’t slay you, and I am usually a poster-slaying feminazi bonerkiller. This thread reminds me a bit of the one about the teacher who showed the Scientology flick in class – there’s a way things should happen, a way we’d like them to happen, but the sad truth is that the world is full of idiots and assholes and it often isn’t worth the trouble.
Hope, at the very least, that the OP’s daughter comes out okay and karma bites the jerk in question!
What everyone else has said except for my assessment of his current behavior.
He’s currently making a show (literally a show) of not touching and being excessively polite in an attempt to recast her as the hyper-sensitive overreacting female that’s just looking for an excuse to cause trouble or file a lawsuit.
Her best course of action IMHO is to continue to behave in a mature and professional manner and have no contact with the jackass other than what is required for her job. The previous admonishments that this is in no way her fault are dead on.