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constructive discharge after harassment...feeling threatened

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beckyb

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Georgia

I made a complaint of sexual harassment to my manager (X), against another manager (Y), which was determined to be valid; the harassment stopped. my manager never spoke to me again in 3 months; the harasser Y was then put in charge of my project, and he and another manager (Z) began retaliatory actions against me: (1) increased scrutiny over my work; (2) falsely reporting poor performance; (3) revoked a prior commitment to hire staff to help with my too-high workload (my position was originally to be a mgmt one but since no staff were hired there was no mgmt to do); (4) destroying work i had done and then reporting non-performance on my part; (5) unjustified, unfavorable evaluation after two very favorable ones; (6) telling other managers that i was on drugs; (7) finally reassigning my work to an outside contractor (also a friend of the harasser) and assigning to me far less demanding work but with increased workload; (8) as a resultof all above, I lost all credibility at the organization.

I have all documentation, work product, communications and evidence to support my above-average performance and that all negative reports were untrue.

My manager and the other two managers were heard, in the open office, by a colleague, saying "build a case against her (me) so we can fire her"; finally, i found a new job and I resigned. I was told to leave immediately and my computer was confiscated. My personal items were searched without my knowledge or consent. I was offered money to sign a waiver of right to sue against existing and future, known and unknown causes by the company or employees, whether acting in professional or personal capacities. I was repeatedly pressured to sign, and after several responses saying that I wanted an attorney to review, pressured again and again to sign. I finally got them to agree to 3 days for me to review it.

I was not given a notice of separation, which is supposed to be a requirement by the department of labor.

After I left i have learned that (1) they are trying to find out my new company; (2) they told my colleagues that i am suspected of willful destruction of work product; (3) the three managers involved were celebrating in the open office, proud that they didn't have to get unethical to get rid of me.

I will not be signing the waiver since it removes any leverage I might have to protect myself in the future, but given this company was founded on the CEO's doctrine (and I quote) "I will make it my mission to destroy the life of anyone who threatens the success of this company" I really do not trust these people.

now my questions: (1) should I file a claim with the EEOC to meet the timeliness requirement in the event that they do anything else to threaten my future employability? (2) do I have a case for constructive discharge even though I have a new job and really only suffered 2 weeks lost pay and (pretty significant) mental anguish and destroyed reputation? (3) can they falsely report to future employers my performance and circumstances of my termination? (4) why on earth would a company include a clause that protects their employees in their personal capacities?

I guess the bottom line is, I have suffered from this, and I feel that they should be made accountable for that. I am not a litigious person but I feel that people should be made to do the right thing and stopped from doing what is unethical.What is the name of your state?
 


mitousmom

Member
You can't file a discrimination complaint based on a suspicion that something unlawful may occur in the future.

Technically, you can file a charge alleging that you were harassed in retaliation for protesting sexual harassment and you resigned because of the harassment. However, I think you are going to have an evidentiary problem supporting your charge unless your former colleague or other co-workers will testify that the managers were out to get you because of your allegation of harassment. For constructive discharge, in addition to proving that the employer illegally discriminated against you, you also have to show that a reasonable person had no alternative to the situation, than to resign. It's not clear that your situation meets that burden. Did you ever complain to management about your treatment?

It's not illegal to ask that you sign a waiver in exchange for money, there is no federal requirement that an employer provide you with a notice of separation, and your ex-employer can certainly provide its assessment of your performance to prospective employers and can certainly tell them that you resigned.
 

beckyb

Junior Member
misunderstanding of my question

I dont want to file a complaint of something that might happen. What I meant was, should I file for the harassment and retaliation in order to meet the 180 day requirement with the EEOC. This may be my only leverage (and the company knows that) that *might* prevent them from doing anything harmful in the future.

The colleague has already said he will testify (he will be leaving the company in 2 weeks and is therefore not concerned about retaliation) so I am not too concerned about insufficient evidence.

I did complain about the retaliation to 3 increasingly senior managers over the course of the 3 months, finally including the CEO, who replied "just get your job done. our deadlines are very important to us", after which the retaliation increased.

I only mention the notice of separation since i was told that I cannot collect unemployment for the 2 weeks, since while "I might meet the requirements to be eligible for unemployment" I need that notice. Is that not true?

My final concern is regarding your last statement - that they can tell future employers I resigned - my concern is that they will not say that. I was told that they will only provide employment verification IF I sign the waiver. So I am concerned that, if I do not sign the waiver, they may tell future employers that I was terminated.

I guess I just need to know if there are things I can do to pre-emptively protect myself.
 

beckyb

Junior Member
you raise an interesting question about what a reasonable person would do

How do they measure and determine that? I think that I am able to handle more than the average person but how do they determine something so subjective?
 

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