Wrongful Termination? Whistleblower? Please help.

[Ikneedofhelp22]

Michigan

In September/October 2003 my neighbor, a business manager, filed a sexual harassment claim against a coworker. She had handled it like a professional, asked him to stop, and they had a meeting with the necessary individuals to handle it. Unfortunately, the harasser happened to be a good friend of the boss/supervisor of my neighbor. Although this was shaky ground, they addressed the issue and the issue seemed to dissappear (aside from a slight awkwardness between harasser and harassee). Today (June), her boss informed her that he would not be renewing her contract. My neighbor has a perfect track record, and has never been let go from a job in the past. She did not perform her job poorly and did everything her boss asked with no complaints. Please excuse any bias you may detect, but even objectively she is a professional. Her boss even told her on a review that she was "the most professional person he's ever worked with." Minutes after she was dismissed, she returned to her office to check her email. She received 2,000 emails (as in, one minute 500, the next 700, etc. etc.) These emails all had her name, and the emails were pornographic in nature ("Wild Gilrs Here!", "nude.com") The emails were actually emails that were being returned because they could not be sent. The emails were sent to people in all parts of her company. While the emails were being returned to her, she never initially sent these emails. She saved and printed what emails she could, and individuals at her husband's work were able to determine that they were sent from a remote computer in her company. Clearly, many issues present themselves. Does she have a case against her employer for protecting the harassee? I'm sorry I do not have more details, I'm just interested in getting a response on the situation and wondering where to go from here.

Thanks for your help.
Todd

 

[Beth3]

How did the company "protect" the harasser? She complained about his behavior and the company put a stop to it. Problem solved.

As to the employer's failure to renew her contract, if they did that BECAUSE of the SH complaint she made, that would be prohibited retalliation but we have no idea why the company took that action. She may well walk on water but it's still entirely possible that due to economic considerations, future business plans, etc., continuing to employ her was no longer financially feasible or didn't fit with their strategic plan.

Lastly, on the e-mail issue, there are at least several nasty viruses making the rounds that "launch" hundreds of e-mails from a user's computer to everyone listed in their address book without the computer user ever being aware of it. I know because it's happened to me and others I know. It's possible that's what happened to your friend. It can't be automatically assumed that that was some form of harassment or retalliation.

There's no basis whatsoever to assume your friend's employer has done anything unlawful. All we know for sure is that when she made a SH complaint, the company handled it timely and appropriately. Those are not indications that some subsequent retalliatory plot on the part of management ensued.