employer/travel arrangements

[buttercup]

State: MA

my director announced they had rented a 2bedroom apt. w/ sofa bed for employees to use when visiting an out of state supplier v. hotel as visits will be weekly.

the 4 females in the group are very uncomfortable with this arrangement.

i'm stressed about this as one male co worker is on probabtion for sexual harrassment. i only know because i was called as a witness during the internal investigation.

do the females have any legal right to refuse to stay w/ our male co workers? refuse to travel? refuse to be subjected to possible sexual harrassment?

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

Either the employer is dense, stupid or cheap? Check out the section below. Some of it may pertain to you. Make sure you check all subsections too.
http://employment-law.freeadvice.com/


WHAT IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE?
Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is

used as a basis for employment decisions, or

has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of workplace situations:

the victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.

the harasser can be the victim's supervisor, the employer's agent, a supervisor, 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.

the harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.

Victims of sexual harassment should maintain records of all incidents including, date, time, place, names of offenders and witnesses. Victims should tell offenders to stop the sexual harassment. If the conduct continues, the employer should be notified, perhaps using the employer's complaint mechanism or grievance system.

A victim of sexual harassment may file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (and appropriate state agency where sexual harassment is prohibited under state law). When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, the EEOC looks at the whole records: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances, and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-by-case basis.

In general, an employer is held strictly liable for the conduct of all supervisory employees who grant or without benefits on the basis of compliance with unwelcome sexual advances. However, an employer who enforces its sexual harassment policy to prevent a hostile or offensive work environment is not liable to the victim unless the employer is aware of the situation and took no action.