The whistleblower case filed on behalf of Paul Olson, a high level employee of Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS) has settled for $295,000. Olson had alleged that the DHS had ostracized him and removed all meaningful responsibilities from his position after he refused his managers’ demands to violate a statute to give a financial benefit to Fairview University Medical Center. The terms of the settlement include compensation for wage damages and emotional distress. View the Olson v. DHS Settlement Agreement.
Hostile Workplace
You start a new job and everything is going great. Your coworkers are welcoming and your boss is particularly friendly. It may seem innocent at first. A compliment about your appearance, a comment about what you’re wearing, a pet name. But the frequency starts to make you uncomfortable. Your boss starts asking about your love life and sexual preferences. Soon the anxiety from dealing with constant unwanted attention makes you dread going to work and you wonder if there is anything you can do.
In Minnesota, you have a right to work in an environment free from sexual harassment, which includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, sexually motivated physical contact or other verbal or physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature. It doesn’t matter whether the perpetrator is male or female, or is your boss, coworker, subordinate, or president of the company; this type of behavior is illegal under the Minnesota Human Rights Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act if it substantially interferes with your work environment.
Societal attitudes seem to be changing regarding sexual orientation discrimination. For example, the recent defeat of the proposed state marriage amendment confirmed that a majority of Minnesota voters do not believe that a prohibition against same-sex marriage should be codified as a state constitutional amendment.
However, many civil rights advocates might agree that more action is required. Certainly, voting down discriminatory laws is a first step. However, additional affirmative actions might be needed to counter the systemic or institutional challenges that many sexual minorities still encounter.
It’s fairly common for coworkers to joke around in the office and give each other nicknames, and many Minnesota employees simply accept this as a fact of life. However, some nicknames can go too far and be hurtful or degrading, and it’s important to know that can be considered workplace harassment.
A recent case of a school district groundskeeper illustrates how some nicknames can cross the line. The groundskeeper had been working at the school for about ten years when he was suddenly fired after an on-the-job accident he was involved with while driving a truck. The man has a low IQ and describes himself as borderline mentally handicapped and testified in a court case later that the accident was related to his employer’s refusal to accommodate his disability.
A franchise owning company of 25 McDonald’s restaurants was fined $1 million in a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission following an investigation of sexual harassment complaints at one of its Midwest locations.
The EEOC responded to reports of sexual comments, kissing, and other inappropriate touching forced upon female employees by their male coworkers. The EEOC says that the franchise owner knew about the sexual harassment and not only failed to act to stop it, but retaliated against female employees who complained and permitting male employees to continue the behavior.
A trucking company has settled a racial discrimination lawsuit for $11 million, according to a statement from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC brought the lawsuit on behalf of a group of African American employees who said that they endured race-based harassment and discrimination for many years.
The settlement covers incidents that happened between 2002 and 2009. About 324 employees will be eligible to make claims to portions of the settlement. Among the many allegations made against the trucking company, the employees said that they found hangman’s noses and racist graffiti in a terminal where they often worked.
An experienced and well-regarded security official who has worked with the NBA and the Olympic Basketball team for many years has filed a lawsuit against the women’s team coach. She says that the coach made unwanted sexual advances towards her while they were traveling with a team in Russia in 2009. She refused his advances and said that immediately afterwards he displayed hostility towards her and spoke poorly of her to the team.
The woman has worked for the USA Basketball team for the past two Summer Olympic games in Athens and Beijing and had planned to work on the London games this year. In a conference call with league officials she learned that the coach had instructed the league that she should not work with his team.
The tech world is reeling after a prominent female partner at one of the industry’s major venture capital firms filed a sexual harassment lawsuit. The complaint details a pattern of mistreatment of female employees at the firm and reveals details of what many insiders already knew to be a male-centric industry.
The issues raised in the lawsuit filing were echoed in the comments of other women working in the venture capital world as well as entrepreneurs seeking investments. One woman told a reporter that she was explicitly denied a job at a prominent venture firm because of her gender and that in the 12 years since that happened, the company has still not hired a single female partner.
When we read a story in the Pioneer Press or Star Tribune about a sexual harassment case, it seems like the accused is almost always a male. There are a variety of cultural and business factors that lead to this disproportionate representation. But it is important to remember that just because a manager or supervisor is female, she is not allowed to sexually harass employees.
It can be difficult for anyone to report sexual harassment; they may fear retaliatory termination or simply not being believed. Both men and women who are the victims of harassment are wrongly placed in uniquely difficult circumstances. Everyone deserves a workplace free from sexual harassment. The allegations in one ongoing case demonstrate the susceptibility of both genders to be the victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.
Former Minnesota Viking quarterback Brett Favre has been called on to testify in a sexual harassment lawsuit surrounding text message he allegedly sent while playing for the Jets. The lawsuit alleges that while Favre was the starting quarterback for the Jets, he sent numerous inappropriate text messages to two massage therapists who were employees of the team.
According to the two female employees, they brought the inappropriate messages to the attention of the team management. The employees were likely hoping that the team would address this situation and take appropriate steps to deal with it and ensure that it did not occur again in the future. But the two female employees claim that rather than addressing the situation properly, the team simply terminated them.