Houston Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit

Attorneys with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a March 20, 2009 EEOC Press Release that a Houston surgical center will pay $290,000.00 and provide significant remedial relief to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit in which the EEOC charged the Houston surgical center with subjecting several female employees at their Bellaire, Texas facility to a sexually hostile work environment.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/3-20-09.html .  According to the EEOC Press Release, the lawsuit alleged, more specifically, that a male nurse, who eventually was promoted to a supervisory position, made unwanted sexual advances and sexual jokes and innuendos to female colleagues and subordinates.  The EEOC said that women who rejected the advances or complained about harassment were then burdened with more difficult job assignments and had their work performance unfairly disparaged.  In addition, the EEOC stated that a nurse who complained in writing about the alleged sexual harassment was fired the following day while another woman who complained was given a poor evaluation.  The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, and, in Fiscal Year 2008, 13,867 sexual harassment charges were filed with the EEOC and state or local agencies nationwide, an increase of 11% from the prior year.

Whether hostile employment conditions arise in Bellaire, Houston, Sugar Land or elsewhere, victims of a sexually hostile work environment may contact the EEOC and an attorney or lawyer to determine if a sexual harassment lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential harassment claim.