American women working overseas in Iraq for contractors have reported sexual assaults by co-workers but are finding themselves in legal limbo, unable to seek justice or even a significant amount of compensation, as result of employer required arbitration clauses that force claims of sexual assault and harassment, as well as rape, to be pursued outside the jury system, according to an article posted by CommonDreams.org.  Risen, James, “Limbo For US Women Reporting Iraq Assaults,” http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/13/7042/ , 9/2/08.  A Houston resident, who worked for KBR in Iraq from 2004 until early 2007, said that she often saw evidence of sexual harassment or discrimination, and that male supervisors often tried to force female employees to grant sexual favors in exchange for promotions or other benefits.  Id.  As reported in the posting, lawyers for women who have reported that they were raped or assaulted while working in Iraq say that one of the biggest obstacles they face is the arbitration requirement.  Id.  “That means that women who say they were victimized had had great difficulty taking KBR to court for failing to better protect its female employees in Iraq.”  Id.  The issue gained national attention, according to the posting, when a 23-year-old former KBR employee testified at a Congressional hearing in December that she had been gang-raped by co-workers in Iraq in 2005 and urged lawmakers to make it easier for crime victims to sue employers, saying recently that “Victims of crime perpetrated by employees of taxpayer-funded government contracts in Iraq deserve the same standard of treatment and protection governed by the same laws whether they are working in the U.S. or abroad.”  Id.

Sexual harassment can happen at any business regardless of size and is not reserved for high profile scandals, and, in 2007, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 12,510 charges of sexual harassment, according to a Laredo newspaper, The Laredo Morning Times.  See, Richards, Ashley, and Christina Rosales, “Sexual Harassment Can Happen At Any Business,” The Laredo Morning Times, http://www.lmtonline.com , 9/1/08.  Interestingly, about 16% of the 12,510 charges received by the EEOC were filed by men.  Id.  According to the president of the Laredo Association of Human Resource Managers, the keyword in harassment is “unwelcome” and any verbal remark or physical action of a sexual nature is not considered harassment until it is unwelcome by the victim.  Id.  In this regard, the inappropriate behavior becomes harassment when the work environment becomes hostile or uncomfortable for the victim or even other employees affected by the harasser’s conduct.  Id.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Id.  Victims can ask the harasser to stop and report the misconduct to management, as well as the EEOC.  Id.  The fact that an employee feels compelled to report the conduct can be a sign that an employer’s policies, if any, concerning sexual harassment in the workplace are unclear or do not exist.  Id.

Whether sexual harassment and employment sex discrimination occurs in Laredo or elsewhere, hostile work environment victims may consult the EEOC or an attorney to determine whether a formal sexual harassment complaint is appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the potential case.

Whether sexual harassment occurs in Beaumont, Galveston, Houston or elsewhere, victims of sexual misconduct and harassment have rights and may consult an attorney to discuss whether a sexual harassment or misconduct complaint may be appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the particular incident or incidents.  In an interesting article by Christian Post reporter Audrey Barrick, the issue of sexual harassment of Christian women at church or in ministry settings is discussed.  See, Barrick, Audrey, “Survey: Christian Women Report Sexual Harassment At Church,” Christian Post, 8/21/08.  According to the article, more than a quarter of Christian women have experienced sexual harassment and of those, one fourth said it happened in a church or ministry setting.  Id.  In this regard, the article pointed to a survey conducted by the NationalChristianPoll.com which surveyed women self-described as “active Christian women” on such inappropriate behavior as sexual advances, touching or sexual contact, suggestive jokes, glances with sexual overtones and demeaning comments.  Id.  The survey found that, in a ministry setting, 25% of the surveyed women said they personally experienced gender discrimination; 19% reported demeaning comments; 18% reported suggestive jokes; 16% said they experienced glances with sexual overtones; 15% reported touching or sexual contact; and 14% said they experienced a hostile environement.  Id. ”Of those who personally experienced sexual harassment, 50% said they avoided the perpetrator, 45% ignored it, 38% shrugged it off, and 31% prayed,” but, as reported in the article, nearly half said they did not report it because they did not want to cause controversy.  Id. The article stated further that churches and ministries “are advised to adopt a written policy regarding sexual harassment or misconduct.”  Id.

See, http://www.christianpost.com , 8/21/08.

Sex discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  “Some may think that sex sells drinks, but gender ratios are illegal,” said Suzanne Anderson, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) supervisory trial attorney and lead counsel for a federal sex discrimination lawsuit filed in Dallas that settled in May, 2008, acording to an EEOC press release.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/5-7-08.html , “Razzoo’s To Pay $1 Million For Sex Bias Against Men,” 5/7/08.  In the lawsuit, the EEOC sued Razzoo’s, a Dallas and Fort Worth based Cajun food restaurant, alleging that the restaurant refused to hire and promote males to bartender jobs and communicated among management by email a plan for an 80-20 ration of women to men behind the bar.  Id.  As reported in the press release, applicants and servers were expected to testify at trial that restaurant managers told them the restaurant wanted mostly girls behind the bar.  Id.  Further, the press release stated that men who worked as servers at the restaurants were generally denied promotions to bartender because of their gender and the few men who were promoted to bartender were not allowed to work lucrative “girls-only” events.  Id. 

Razzoo’s operates 11 Cajun food restaurants throughout Dallas and Fort Worth and also has locations in Houston and Concord, North Carolina, according to the EEOC.  Id.

Whether sex discrimination or gender discrimination occurs in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston or elsewhere, sex discrimination at work is illegal.  The EEOC may be contacted to file a charge of gender discrimination.  In addition, an attorney may be consulted to determine whether a lawsuit for sex discrimination may ultimately be appropriate in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston or elsewhere under the facts and circumstances of the potential case.

The Kansas City Star reported on August 14, 2008 that two psychology professors at the center of a sexual harassment scandal at the University of Missouri-Kansas City agreed to resign their tenured positions, avoiding the need for a tenure-revocation and dismissal proceeding - a rare occurrence in university settings.  See, Margolies, Dan, “Professors Accused of Sexual Harassment Resign Tenured Positions,” The Kansas City Star, http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/743850.html , 8/14/08.  According to the article, the university agreed to allow both professors to fulfill their remaining academic obligations and to pay them through the end of their contract year, August 31, 2009.  Id.  In turn, both professors agreed not to apply for re-employment with the university.  Id.  The newspaper further reported that the agreement comes a little more than a year after the University of Missouri-Kansas City settled a sexual harassment lawsuit for $1.1 million.  Id.  Filed in 2006, the sexual harassment lawsuit “described in often graphic terms a lab environment in which women were groped, fondled and subjected to unwanted sexual comments and advances.”  Id.  The allegations prompted two internal investigations by the university, and, in a statement quoted in the article, the university said that “because of significantly conflicting testimony among the witnesses, [the second investigator] felt the evidence was inconclusive” as to whether the professors had created a hostile work environment.  Id.

Sexual harassment at work can create a hostile work environment.  Whether sexual harassment occurs on the job in Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio or elsewhere, hostile work environment victims may contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) to make a formal charge of discrimination.  In addition, victims may consult an attorney to determine whether a sexual harassment and hostile work environment lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the potential case.

Reuters and The Boston Globe have posted articles stating that a vice president of a defense contractor has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that she is a victim of race and sex discrimination.  http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2008/08/a_raytheon_vps.html , 8/12/08.  The suit seeks an injunction to stop discriminatory practices and unspecified damages.  Id.  Whether race or sex harassment and discrimination occurs in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio or elsewhere, victims of workplace discrimination may contact an attorney and the EEOC to determine whether a charge of discrimination and a civil lawsuit is appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the case.

According to the website http://www.equalrights.org , a publication of the organization called Equal Rights Advocates (”ERA”), women securing restaurant employment face sex discrimination in hiring, promotions and compensation and the restaurant industry is especially susceptible to incidents of sexual harassment.  See, ERA, “Restaurant Discrimination Project,” http://www.equalrights.org/professional/restaurant.asp .  A research study referenced at the site found that over 42% of the female restaurant employees surveyed reported that a customer, manager, or co-worker had sexually harassed them, and over 60% of all those surveyed, including male restaurant employees, stated that sexual harassment occurred more often in the restaurant industry than other industries.  Id.  Occurrences of alleged racial discrimination in the restaurant industry have also been reported.  For example, a Corpus Christi, Texas news station reported in 2007 that a restaurant customer filed a civil rights lawsuit against an Irving, Texas based restaurant chain, alleging she was ordered to leave after complaining about a manager’s behavior toward black customers.  See, Longoria, Richard, “Restaurant Discrimination,” http://www.kiiitv.com/news/txstatenews/6935847.html , 4/9/07. 

Whether restaurant discrimination occurs in Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, Irving or elsewhere, sexual harassment and discrimination on the basis of sex, gender or race is wrong and people subjected to mistreatment at restaurants can make written complaints to the responsible employer or restaurant owner and consider consulting an attorney about whether a race, sex or gender discrimination harassment lawsuit against the restaurant may be appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the potential civil rights case.

An Addison, Texas based restaurant chain was sued in 2005 by the Dallas office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleging that the restaurant chain routinely declined to hire or promote men who wanted to be bartenders.  See, Tsao, Emily and Karen Robison-Jacobs, “Razzoo’s Settles Sex Discrimination Lawsuit with Male Bartenders,” The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com , 5/8/08.  According to The Dallas Morning News, the restaurant chain agreed to settle the lawsuit in which the EEOC represented 90 male applicants, servers and bartenders claiming that the restaurant tried to keep an 80 - 20 ratio of women to men behind the bar.  Id.  As reported in the article, “[m]ale applicants and servers planned to testify that managers told them [the restaurant] wanted ‘mostly girls behind the bar’.”  Id.  In addition, few men were allegedly promoted to bartender and were not allowed to work lucrative girls-only bartending events.  Id.

Whether sex or gender discrimination occurs at work in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio or elsewhere, United States federal law prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace and victims of sex discrimination may contact the EEOC about filing a charge of discrimination as well as an attorney.  An attorney can also be consulted as to whether a sex or gender discrimination lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio or elsewhere under the facts and circumstances of the potential case.

Sexual harassment in the workplace is illegal and can result in a hostile work environment for employees in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and elsewhere, so sexual harassment victims may contact an attorney or the EEOC to see if a charge of discrimination is warranted.  Sexual misconduct in the workplace can also lead to criminal investigations, as well as lawsuits.

For example, courier-journal.com reported recently on an Indiana State Police investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by a sheriff that was launched after two employees filed criminal complaints accusing the sheriff of touching their breasts and making sexual remarks to them, allegations which first surfaced in the female employees’ filing with the EEOC.  See, “Special Prosecutor Sought In Harrison Sheriff Probe,” The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com , 7/30/08.  The female workers have filed a federal lawsuit alleging violations of their constitutional rights. Id.  According to the article, Harrison County government has paid $55,000.00 since last fall to settle four federal lawsuits brought by former sheriff department employees, three of whome were female and alleged hostile work environment and discrimination.  Id.  In additon, the Southeast Missourian posted an article concerning a county administration employee whose return to work may prompt a lawsuit after the employee was confronted by three county commissioners and an attorney about inappropriate computer use at work involving scantily clad women and sex videos, as well as photos or collages of half-naked women.  See, McNichol, Peg, “Ludwig To Return Next Week,” Southeast Missourian, http://www.semissourian.com/article/20080729/NEWS01/942704581/1001 , 7/29/08.  According to the posting, the employee acknowledged in a statement after being confronted that his behavior at work could be considered sexual harassment.  Id.  The sexually provocative material was allegedly displayed in a manner which placed it in the view of female co-workers.  Id.

Sexual harassment in the workplace is illegal whether it occurs in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas or elsewhere, and victims of workplace sexual harassment may contact the EEOC about filing a charge of harassment or consult an attorney to see whether a sexual harassment lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the potential case.  For example, the New York Post reported that Madison Square Garden agreed to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former cheerleader captain in which she alleged that she was subjected to constant come-ons, including an incident where an executive allegedly tried to force himself on her and pressured her to join a threesome.  See, Cornell, Kati, “MSG Deal Ices 2nd Sex Suit,” New York Post, http://www.nypost.com , 12/27/07.  Improper conduct in the workplace involving sexual advances, sexual assaults and abusive sexual language can create a sexually hostile work environment.  Employees who report sexual discrimination, includuing sexually hostile workplace conditions, and experience retaliation or termination as a result of their report may also consult an attorney whether the retaliation occurs in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas or elsewhere to determine whether a retaliation lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the particular potential case.