M
MDK
Guest
What is the name of your state? Georgia.
Seems to be a lot of Georgia folks showing up on this board. Has the "at will" part of our state caused firings to run amok? I wonder.
Where to start?
Well, i'm male. 32. In addition to being Employee of the Month three months in a row, I just received a promotion to Supervisor that went into effect on April 1st. On April 7th I was taken into human resources and told a female (age 27) had filed a sexual harassment complaint against me. I was stunned. Here are the exact charges laid out against me:
#1 Asking her sexual preference and type of person she would be interested in.
#2 Continually asking how serious she was in her relationship and alleging that it could not be "that serious".
#3 Inquiring with employees who she carpools with and the level of the relationship
#4 Asking if she could be interested in someone like you after she told you that she was involved with someone else, repeatedly
I was put on Suspension w/out Pay until a finding would be made on Wednesday, April 9th. After interviewing 5 people, 3 corroborated some aspects of her story that I seemed 'flirtatious' and interested in her. 2 people could not corroborate her story. In fact, of the three people who corroborated part of her story, it was really only charges 2 and 3 that they seemed to agree with.
The Human Resources Manager told me that she had hoped my written response to the charge would have included an admission that I had some sort of attraction to her because she could then at least demote me and let me keep my job. But because I was denying any of this ever took place, she had no choice but to terminate me based on their "zero tolerance policy" that forbids sexual harassment of any kind.
I was never interested in this girl, so any questions or discussion about her relationships were meaningless to me and therefore totally easy to deny. I went back and looked at the company's sexual harassment policy stated in the employee handbook and nothing that I was alleged to have done falls into any category except possibly this: "The conduct unreasonably interferes with an individuals work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work enviroment"
I'd actually have felt better about being fired if she'd have at least alleged i'd groped her, displayed sexual images at my desk, asked her for a date, sex, or whatnot. But noooooo! Her basic claim is that I asked around to see if she was in a relationship and that offended her. So out the door i'm sent. And all of this was supposedly taking place 15 feet from the head of our division, the woman who hired me and promoted me. You'd think she would have noticed this going on for the past month if it had really happened.
So now i'm out of work and trying to get an idea of what kind of options i've got. I'm looking into filing a complaint with the EEOC on Monday, here in Atlanta, but i'm not sure what my complaint is. Would she have been fired if I had made the exact same allegation against her? Am I a victim of an over-reaching, vague, lawsuit-fearing "zero tolerance" policy? Have I been discriminated against because i'm male?
I was never warned verbally or in writing that I had said anything that might have offended this girl. Had I been, I would've tried to make things right by apologizing. I was never given the chance to correct the situation. My most recent work review by my superiors was flawless. And had my Manager and my Division Head been allowed to handle this matter, I believe i'd still be working there. But it goes out of their hands and straight into Human Resources. There, one manager, whom i'd never really met before and didn't know me, makes a finding based on ONE WOMAN'S being upset and now i'm jobless. An otherwise spotless record flushed down the toilet and I simply cannot accept that I have no options to respond with. There must be SOMETHING I can do to register my displeasure.
At this point, i'm not interested in suiing. I just want someone else with authority to say to me that I was wronged by this company and that what was alleged doesn't even rise to the level of sexual harassment.
Opinions?
Seems to be a lot of Georgia folks showing up on this board. Has the "at will" part of our state caused firings to run amok? I wonder.
Where to start?
Well, i'm male. 32. In addition to being Employee of the Month three months in a row, I just received a promotion to Supervisor that went into effect on April 1st. On April 7th I was taken into human resources and told a female (age 27) had filed a sexual harassment complaint against me. I was stunned. Here are the exact charges laid out against me:
#1 Asking her sexual preference and type of person she would be interested in.
#2 Continually asking how serious she was in her relationship and alleging that it could not be "that serious".
#3 Inquiring with employees who she carpools with and the level of the relationship
#4 Asking if she could be interested in someone like you after she told you that she was involved with someone else, repeatedly
I was put on Suspension w/out Pay until a finding would be made on Wednesday, April 9th. After interviewing 5 people, 3 corroborated some aspects of her story that I seemed 'flirtatious' and interested in her. 2 people could not corroborate her story. In fact, of the three people who corroborated part of her story, it was really only charges 2 and 3 that they seemed to agree with.
The Human Resources Manager told me that she had hoped my written response to the charge would have included an admission that I had some sort of attraction to her because she could then at least demote me and let me keep my job. But because I was denying any of this ever took place, she had no choice but to terminate me based on their "zero tolerance policy" that forbids sexual harassment of any kind.
I was never interested in this girl, so any questions or discussion about her relationships were meaningless to me and therefore totally easy to deny. I went back and looked at the company's sexual harassment policy stated in the employee handbook and nothing that I was alleged to have done falls into any category except possibly this: "The conduct unreasonably interferes with an individuals work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work enviroment"
I'd actually have felt better about being fired if she'd have at least alleged i'd groped her, displayed sexual images at my desk, asked her for a date, sex, or whatnot. But noooooo! Her basic claim is that I asked around to see if she was in a relationship and that offended her. So out the door i'm sent. And all of this was supposedly taking place 15 feet from the head of our division, the woman who hired me and promoted me. You'd think she would have noticed this going on for the past month if it had really happened.
So now i'm out of work and trying to get an idea of what kind of options i've got. I'm looking into filing a complaint with the EEOC on Monday, here in Atlanta, but i'm not sure what my complaint is. Would she have been fired if I had made the exact same allegation against her? Am I a victim of an over-reaching, vague, lawsuit-fearing "zero tolerance" policy? Have I been discriminated against because i'm male?
I was never warned verbally or in writing that I had said anything that might have offended this girl. Had I been, I would've tried to make things right by apologizing. I was never given the chance to correct the situation. My most recent work review by my superiors was flawless. And had my Manager and my Division Head been allowed to handle this matter, I believe i'd still be working there. But it goes out of their hands and straight into Human Resources. There, one manager, whom i'd never really met before and didn't know me, makes a finding based on ONE WOMAN'S being upset and now i'm jobless. An otherwise spotless record flushed down the toilet and I simply cannot accept that I have no options to respond with. There must be SOMETHING I can do to register my displeasure.
At this point, i'm not interested in suiing. I just want someone else with authority to say to me that I was wronged by this company and that what was alleged doesn't even rise to the level of sexual harassment.
Opinions?