Hostile Work Environment Claim

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including sex discrimination and sexual harassment which violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  In this regard, EEOC attorneys announced in an August 7, 2009 EEOC Press Release that the agency filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against a temporary employment staffing firm and a construction company, alleging that they violated federal law by subjecting a class of female employees to a sexually hostile work environment.  According to the Press Release, the plaintiffs were subjected to sexual harassment, including inappropriate sexual comments, requests for sex, and unwelcome touching of the women’s breasts and buttocks by a labor foreman who supervised them and by employees of a third party contractor performing work at the construction company’s work site.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/8-10-09.html .  The EEOC contends that the women complained about the sexual harassment to the temporary staffing company office manager and asked to be transferred to another work site because of the harassment, but their request was denied.  In addition, the EEOC claims that the women complained to the contruction company foreman.  As stated in the Press Release, the harassment continued and the women were forced to resign.  An EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release called the case a reminder to employers to provide a harassment free workplace regardless of who perpetrates the harassment.  The EEOC filed the lawsuit after first attempting to reach a voluntary out of court settlement.

Whether a sexually hostile work environment arises in Baytown, Freeport, Houston or elsewhere, victims of sexual harassment related to employment may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a hostile work environment lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential sexual harassment claim.