04.28.09
Posted in Contact Us at 1:41 am by normarae2008
Thank you to the many readers who have written to me privately and publicly about sexual harassment. Your questions and real-life experiences are the reason this site exists. I encourage anyone who has a question or comment, no matter how minor, to write to me at this site either publicly or privately to get the answers you are seeking. My working motto is “No More Lies,” and my goal is to help identify the potential misconduct and provide education and resources to individuals seeking assistance. We’ve received inquiries from working women, from working men, from teens, and from groups of women who believe they have suffered mistreatment at the hands of their management. No question is too simple, and no fear should be ignored. If you have any concerns, questions, or comments, and wish to join a growing group of readers who are seeking non-legal advice, resources or education, I encourage you to write to me at this site, or contact me via normarae2008@gmail.com. I’m here to help, and this site is for you.
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04.21.09
Posted in Recent Cases and Headlines, This Month's Major Topics at 6:58 pm by normarae2008
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that there are approximately 15,000 new sexual harassment cases filed each year. What about the hundreds or thousands of cases that don’t get filed due to embarrassment, humiliation, loss of self-respect, fear of losing one’s job, retaliatory threats, or other concerns that keep women from filing complaints?
Many women are too fearful to file a complaint, and some don’t know the procedure. Human Resources organizations are oftentimes too short handed to provide the requisite training for management and for general employee populations to ensure that the laws are followed, so harassed employees are left no choice but to suffer in silence.
Have you been harassed and are afraid to report your treatment? We want to hear from you. We might be able to help you out with help and referrals for counseling, legal recommendations and education. Please write to us and tell your story. We’re just a click away.
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04.20.09
Posted in Recent Cases and Headlines, This Month's Major Topics at 10:56 pm by normarae2008
Global Voices Online » Egypt: April 18 Declared Anti-Harassment Day
By Marwa Rakha
Asser says: “After the acquittal of my harasser I realized that the law is full of loopholes and our only hope is to call for an anti-harassment law and that the members of the Egyptian Parliament realize that this is a unanimous call from all Egyptian women and … Having said that, and in light of the growing rates of sexual harassment in Egyptian society, one can devise a remedy that takes advantage of that preoccupation with one’s image in the eyes of the community. …
Global Voices Online – http://globalvoicesonline.org/
This article was referenced from an article written by Marwa Rakha, and is included on this webpage in respect to the victims of harassment in Egypt and in other countries around the world.
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Posted in Recent Cases and Headlines at 10:34 pm by normarae2008
In a recent New York decision, Justice Thomas’s majority opinion held that nothing in either the National Labor Relations Act, which controls collective bargaining agreements made on behalf of union members, or the ADEA forbids unions from mandating …. Fem cop files sex harass charge w/ EEOC; said that Darlington Chief discriminated and retaliated against her when she refused his requests for sexual favors and complained about the harassment; Darlington atty investigating … for more of the case link up with New York Public Personnel Law – http://publicpersonnellaw.blogspot.com/
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:12 pm by normarae2008
WELCOME TO MY WEBSITE: WRITE TO THIS BLOG OR E-MAIL ME AT normarae2008@gmail.com
This website is designed for women who have been harassed in the workplace. We’re hoping to create an intelligent, sensitive dialogue with women where we can share information, resources, answer questions, and compile trends in the workplace that will be used to help focus attention on the needs to improve harassment and discrimination laws.
In 1964, Title VII was enacted into law as part of the Civil Rights Act. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. With the enactment of Title VII the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, was formally launched to respond to and investigate harassment complaints in the workplace. The EEOC has investigated thousands of complaints since its inception, and it now reports that approximately 15,000 complaints are filed each year.
Those filings are merely the reports that are filed. It is difficult to determine how many cases are underreported, or are reported and never receive a proper hearing. Many women fear filing a complaint due to the threat of retaliation, job loss, personal injury, ridicule, intimidation, stalled career growth, or other financial or job related problems. Many women who have been harassed experience emotional and physical problems because of the harassment, such as stress, loss of sleep, depression, loss of self esteem or self confidence, post traumatic stress syndrome, alcoholism, and other physical or emotional symptoms.
This web site is for the women who have been harassed or abused in the workplace. My goal is to reach out to as many of you as possible, to hear your stories and offer candid, honest, sensitive information on where you can go for help, how the law works, where you can get information from the EEOC, education on how to file a claim, and where you can find resources for support and therapy to help you recover from your experiences.
Please write to me on this site. Share your story. I guarantee that I will respond to each and every person who reaches out to me. Together, we’ll find a way to make a better future if not for ourselves, for our daughters.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:08 pm by normarae2008
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.
The victim as well as the harasser may be a man or a woman. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
The victim does not have to be the person harassed, but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.
It is helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should try to use an employee grievance or complaint mechanism if available.
When investigating an allegation of sexual harassment, the EEOC will look at the whole record: the nature of the sexual advances, and the context under which the alleged incidents occurred, before a determination on the allegations from the facts are made.
Prevention is always the best tool to eliminate workplace sexual harassment.
This information was referenced from the EEOC. For more detailed information go to eeoc.gov/
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:06 pm by normarae2008
The statutory basis for the prohibition against sexual harassment is Title VII, which prohibits employers from hiring, firing, or otherwise discriminating in terms and conditions of employment on the basis of an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Sexual harassment claims are divided into two categories: quid pro quo and hostile workplace environment. Quid pro quo harassment occurs when an employer or supervisor takes tangible employment action against an employee because of the employee’s unwillingness to provide sexual favors. The more controversial hostile workplace environment claims were initially recognized by the Supreme Court in Meritor Savings Bank, SFB v. Vinson (1986). In that case, the Supreme Court interpreted an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulation, 29 CFR 1604.11(a) (1985), which defined sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.” The court ruled that to be actionable, the harassment must be severe enough to alter the employee’s conditions of employment, creating what has become known as a “hostile environment.”
Subsequently, in Teresa Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. (1994), the Court clarified the previous ruling by explaining that the existence of a hostile environment can be determined “only by looking at all the circumstances, including the frequency of the discriminatory conduct; its severity; whether it is physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere offensive utterance; and whether it unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work performance” (p. 369).
One issue that initially caused confusion was whether an employer could be held liable for sexual harassment by a supervisor when the employee suffered no tangible economic loss. In companion decisions in Ellerth v. Burlington and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998), the high court ruled that an employer is subject to vicarious liability to a victimized employee for an actionable hostile environment created by a supervisor with immediate (or successively higher) authority over the employee. However, when no tangible employment action is taken, a defending employer may raise an affirmative defense to liability by showing that (a) the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior and (b) the plaintiff employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventative or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to avoid harm otherwise. No affirmative defense is available, however, when the supervisor’s harassment culminates in a tangible employment action.
One final controversial matter the Supreme Court had to resolve was whether one could sexually harass someone of the same sex. Initially, same‐sex harassment was not considered sexual harassment, but, in the case of Joseph Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Service (1998), the Supreme Court broadened the interpretation of the law and held that nothing in the act bars a cause simply because the plaintiff and defendant are members of the same sex. The critical issue, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, was “whether members of one sex are exposed to disadvantageous terms or conditions of employment to which members of the other sex are not exposed” (p. 78).
Referenced by Nancy K. Kubasek of Answers.com
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:04 pm by normarae2008
I want to share a recent inquiry I received from a reader without violating her rights to privacy and anonymity. I’ll try to briefly review some of her story’s headlines while protecting her confidentiality, because I think her story is replicated in many offices around the country each year.
In essence, she suffered unwelcome sexual “touching” by a co-worker while working. She asked him to stop. Later she had to travel to another part of her office building with the offending employee and asked that a third employee travel with them, as she did not want to be alone with the harasser. She mentioned the unfortunate incident to the third individual.
Before our reader had a chance to take any sort of action on her own, the third individual reported the incident to the reader’s Department Manager, who in turn made arrangements to report the entire incident to Human Resources. Our reader wrote to me and asked what her rights were, as she wanted to talk with the original harasser independently and handle the situation on her own.
My comments: First of all, I’m not a lawyer, but I have over 20 years of HR experience. I suggested to the reader that she work with her department manager and the HR department to resolve the matter together. I also told her that once her management and HR are notified of an alleged sexual harassment incident, they are obligated by law and by company policy to act quickly to respond to and investigate the complaint. It’s important that she fully cooperate with their investigation, but she can also notify them that she’d like to play a role in meeting with the alleged harasser to explain her disappointment in his actions and that she’d like him to discontinue such actions in the future. The EEOC encourages victims to take those steps when such actions are at all possible without further complicating the matter.
Secondly, it’s important that victims of alleged harassment keep such incidents confidential. Disclosing such incidents to co-workers runs the high risk of being shared with other workers, and soon you lose control of the confidentiality factor completely. My best advise is to keep these matters quiet. Discuss them only with your management and Human Resources — this is for your own protection.
My last e-mail from the reader was quite positive — she was going to meet with her HR department and express her desires on how she’d like to work closely with them to resolve this case. Hopefully things will go well. I will report back on her progress and how this case resolves.
For further reading consult eeoc.gov/
Normarae
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:00 pm by normarae2008
If you think you’ve been harassed, start preparing your records and documentation. Even if you decide not to file a complaint, you need to document every incident while your memory is fresh. You never know what the future may bring, so take the time to start a notebook or journal and include every detail you can recall. Your records should include the following:
A detailed account of each incident that occurred. Include the name(s) of the individual(s) involved, location, date and time of the incidents, and list any potential witnesses.
Provide details covering exactly what occurred. Do not summarize. It’s important that you allow your memory to take you back through each incident and relive the experience, no matter how difficult it may be, in order to capture exactly what happened. Describe what you were wearing, along with the harasser(s) and any other witnesses as best as you can recall. Also, describe the location in as much detail as possible.
Capture the statements made during the incident(s). What was said to you? Who said it? What tone was used? Was foul or offensive language used? Write it down. Describe the statements to the fullest extent of your ability to remember.
Was unwanted touching involved? Describe it. I know this is painful to recall, but if you file a complaint you’ll need to walk a third party through your story, and you need to be prepared. The more time you dedicate to thorough documentation, the easier it will be to present your experience. And the more prepared you are, the more credible you may be as a direct witness.
After you’ve written down any and all incidents of harassment in minute detail, gather your performance reviews dating back at least 2-3 years. Also, if you have copies of any commendations for a job well-done on any special projects or events make copies of those as well. Secure promotion or merit increase data going back 2-3 years as well.
If you’ve made any complaints about any individuals and/or your superiors make a record of those complaints.
If you have any e-mails, memos, or voice mails from the alleged harassers or other written communications that support your harassment complaint make copies immediately and place them with these other documents in a confidential and secure location, preferably at home. Do not keep these confidential records at your workplace.
If for any reason you feel the need to see a therapist or doctor regarding the alleged harassment maintain copies of your medical records and any medical bills you were required to pay for those services.
To support your privacy and confidentiality, it is strongly advised that you do not discuss or disclose your complaint with any coworkers other than the Human Resources department or other Grievance Organization in your company. These types of complaints create a life of their own in the rumor mill and you can become the subject of rumors that can be highly destructive. For your sake, you are encouraged to keep this problem close to your vest until you can properly file a complaint using Company procedures.
If you have further questions on Record Keeping and preparing your documentation, please write to me at Normarae2008@gmail.com, or leave a post on this blog.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 3:54 pm by normarae2008
I received an e-mail from a young reader last night. I’ll protect her confidentiality and not mention her name, but her story is an important one. She’s a teenager, and met a man on the internet who began saying and doing things that made her uncomfortable. While looking for guidance she found my website, and wrote me an email.
I gave her some immediate advice — talk to her parents, inform her school authorities, and contact the police. She also shut down all internet contact with the man, and said she was going to notify the proper authorities about the incident. Her e-mail to me took courage, and her experience is a further sign that we have to be careful in all of our dealings on the internet. We never know who we are communicating with.
Teenagers: you shouldn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed if someone tries to take advantage of you — it’s not your fault. But listen to your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, or sound right, report your experience to your parents, or your clergy, school or police. And pay attention to those school safety assemblies, because they offer up great tips on internet safety and security.
I checked in on my young reader today to see how she’s doing, and to make sure she’s reported her experience to the proper authorities. Thanks to her courageous steps, hopefully she’ll help stop one bad guy from stalking young women.
To all young readers, and to everyone using the internet, be smart users. It’s a wonderful tool, but be mindful of your safety at all times. If you have similar experiences you’d like to share, or if you have questions about this topic, please write to me. Thanks.
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02.03.09
Posted in Contact Us at 10:53 pm by normarae2008
Thanks to our readers who have written to my email address, Normarae2008@gmail.com. I try to get back to you as promptly as possible. I encourage anyone with questions, thoughts, concerns or experiences you’d wish to share to write to my email address or register at this website and leave a public comment.
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