I have reported sexual inappropriateness of a staff with children for over a year at

[eerelations]

I don't know about my esteemed colleagues, but I'm certainly getting a wee bit tired of having to tell the OP the same things over and over.

For the last time, here are your legal rights and next steps in this situation:

1. As long as you're getting paid, you have no financial claims against your employer.
   
2. If you are fired over this you should apply for UI, and contact an attorney for advice about whistleblower protection.
   
3. You have no other legal claims against this employer.
   
4. This is not a hostile work environment (HWE) in the legal sense of the term. It would only be an HWE if you were the one being sexually harassed/molested. Since you are not being sexually harassed/molested, your employer is not providing you with an illegal HWE. You therefore have no case against your employer for HWE.

And that's it, that's all there is to say about this, and I'm not saying it again.

[AmigoGirl]

Ok, I Thank you for your help and consideration. I understand your frustration in having to explain this to me in detail but I do not understand or have knowledge of my rights and appreciate your taking the time to explain them to me. This is not my field of expertise and I have given information and asked questions (sometimes repeatedly) to get a clear view of what you are telling me.
Have a nice day and Thank you again. ~AG

[ecmst12]

I can't believe you're looking to get rich because some little kids got hurt.

[AmigoGirl]

That is not what I am doing, I have been the only one standing up for these kids for a year, and now I am standing up for myself and all the current and future employees of this organization to prevent this from happening again. I have also made suggestions of new rules to be put into effect that would help prevent this from happening again and so that when employees report these types of issues they will be listened to and taken seriously. There are many things going on here that I am trying to deal with, number one was the safety of these kids and I have been working on that dilagently through out this last year all the way to the point of notifying the police. I have had to follow employee policies from our manual in the reporting procedures of all of this so as not to have lost my job and waited on my superiors to do their job, and since they refused to I have taken the next step and gone above their heads to the police. So in the aftermath of all of this I see it as my right to stand up for myself as my employers have forced me to wait and go through a very long and stressful situation that I was trying to do the right thing and help the whole time. I am not in any way trying to hurt the children, I have been doing nothing but helping them by fighting for what is right this whole time. I am still taking action to expose these issues to all the authorities I can find that will listen to me so these people don't continue to try to cover this up, I am doing the best I can to deal with some very serious issues and unless you have went through this you don't have the right to judge me, the EEOC website states rules that employers must abide by and I feel I have been victimized by my employers Intentional non actions to resolve these serious issues I reported repeatedly. God knows how much I love these kids and I take Great offense by your comment. It takes Guts to do what I have done for so long and I have no shame holding my superiors accountable for their actions.

[eerelations]

I feel sorry for the kids, not you. They're the ones who were molested, not you. You still have a job (a great job! you don't have to work and you still get paid! do you have an inkling of how many millions of people would give a tooth or two to be in your shoes? including those poor kids!), you got some great, accurate and free legal advice here, and you have the satisfaction of knowing you really helped some kids...and yet you think you've been victimized? Just because your employer put you on paid leave in order to investigate the charges you made? And you want to sue your employer over this? But you don't want any money? Huh??? Doesn't make sense, sweetie...

[commentator]

Something you always have to tell whistleblowers in my area very clearly, is thank you for the information, thank you for telling us about this. Now, we will assure you this will be investigated. What we WILL NOT DO is call you back and report what we have done, keep you updated on this investigation, or tell you the results. Because you filed this report/complaint does not mean you are entitled to any feedback/response/reporting/reward for doing so. If your testimony is needed later, we will contact you.

"I'm so stressed out, I've been so upset, I don't know what to do, i've been under so much tension....".all these things are states you yourself have chosen to be in. For goodness sake, keep your child and any children you have control of away from this person. Draw your pay and try not to let it "stress you out" anymore. You've done the right thing. It is not in your hands at this time. Find another job.

[AmigoGirl]

Obviously you are reading into this what ever your view is of it, or maybe I haven't been clear enough, my employer refused to investigate and tried covering this all up this whole time until I turned them into the police. And now I am having to deal with the stress of returning to a job where I reported a coworker and two supervisors for serious issues that they could have prevented from escelating to this point. Or I may not be called back in as this is a small town and they play the Good Ol Boy rules here, so Yes this has effected me as I have had to try to make plans to look for other work in a bad economy for reasons that were not my doing. Your opinion is just that, just because you offer your opinion or bits and pieces of the law that you may know doesn't mean you have the right to be mean and personally attack another person for decisions they are trying to make. I didn't ask for this responsibility and I have done my best and what I feel is far beyond what the common man would do in today's world - there were plenty of other staff that felt the same way about this guy and no one else reported or spent time documenting or went to the police but me, and if people want to condem me for taking legal action against my employer for what I feel was a forced hostile and offensive work environment then that is your opinion. **Just so you are up to date, the police said the none of the children reported abuse when interviewed, though most of the staff reported inappropriate touching and mean treatment of the children by this guy.**

[AmigoGirl]

Say what you want, I think everyone will have their own opinions about all of this and may or may not see our personal view of it all. And our comments will either help or deter any other person who comes onto this site looking for help regarding matters such as these. I tried to search for any past advise relating to these issues and there wasn't any. So I hope this helps someone else as I have gotten my fill of judgementle attitude, this isn't happening to you and you are not in my shoes. I hope you have a good day and can help someone else.

[eerelations]

Originally Posted by AmigoGirl

Obviously you are reading into this what ever your view is of it, or maybe I haven't been clear enough, my employer refused to investigate and tried covering this all up this whole time until I turned them into the police. And now I am having to deal with the stress of returning to a job where I reported a coworker and two supervisors for serious issues that they could have prevented from escelating to this point. Or I may not be called back in as this is a small town and they play the Good Ol Boy rules here, so Yes this has effected me as I have had to try to make plans to look for other work in a bad economy for reasons that were not my doing. Your opinion is just that, just because you offer your opinion or bits and pieces of the law that you may know doesn't mean you have the right to be mean and personally attack another person for decisions they are trying to make. I didn't ask for this responsibility and I have done my best and what I feel is far beyond what the common man would do in today's world - there were plenty of other staff that felt the same way about this guy and no one else reported or spent time documenting or went to the police but me, and if people want to condem me for taking legal action against my employer for what I feel was a forced hostile and offensive work environment then that is your opinion. **Just so you are up to date, the police said the none of the children reported abuse when interviewed, though most of the staff reported inappropriate touching and mean treatment of the children by this guy.**

Wow, we give you sympathy + good, accurate legal advice...and this is your response?

And please note, we are more than qualified to tell you whether you're in an HWE or not. Just because you "feel" that you are doesn't mean that you actually are. If you think you're more qualified than we are to know this, please tell us:

1. Why you bothered posting here in the first place; and

2. What your legal qualifications are.

I'm sorry if this sounds mean, but I'm just completely flabbergasted by your ungrateful attitude and angry, selfish response to our patient attempts to provide you with the legal information you requested.

[AmigoGirl]

Obviously there is no response I could give that wouldn't be returned with a combative response from you so please do not waste your time "trying" to help, I'm sure this is making good reading for those who are following or find this post, but it is not helping my situation having to defend myself to you. I have thanked you for your contribution and if there is no other legal advise pertaining to these issues that you would so generously like to share with out the personal attacks I would appreciate you leave me alone. I came to this site for help, you have made it clear that you have provided some help so go help someone else now...

[>Charlotte<]

Originally Posted by AmigoGirl

if people want to condem me for taking legal action against my employer for what I feel was a forced hostile and offensive work environment then that is your opinion.

You don't understand what a hostile work environment is by legal standards. It does NOT mean "it's my work environment and they're being hostile". To be actionable for employment law purposes, the hostility must be based on one of several, specific, characteristics--race, sex, religion, etc. They're allowed to be hostile to you. They can even be hostile to you if you're a black Amish woman. They're just not allowed to be hostile to you because you're a black Amish woman.

For somebody who claims she's not looking for a pay-off, you sure are belligerent and defensive every time someone suggests you're not going to profit from this. They're trying to make you understand that you're probably not going to get any money, but if you're bound and determined that you will, you're perfectly free to spend your money to hire an attorney anytime you're ready to do so.

If you don't make any money off of this, perhaps knowing you helped some victimized children will make your "stress" feel better.

[AmigoGirl]

I really do appreciate all your help, I understand what you are saying and I thank you for informing me of these laws. It is not my intent to argue with anyone regarding these issues. I am trying to express how this has effected me and why I am asking these questions. It has been overwhelmingly stressful and I am sorry if I upset anyone. I won't bother you with any further questions.
Thank you ~ AG

[Shadowbunny]

Originally Posted by AmigoGirl

Hi~ Child Protective Services asked me if the guy I was reporting was related to any of the children and I said no and they said that they couldn't get involved unless he was related to any of them and to notify the police...and I did...

This makes no sense at all. I've dealt with CPS before; I've never known that to be one of their qualifying questions.

Is it possible that what YOU think of as being abusive isn't in the eyes of the law and others?

[katemla]

You can claim hostile work environment because you were aware of what was going on and that caused you stress. One does not have to be on the receiving end of sexual harassment personally to be able to claim hostile environment.

Now, to recover damages, and to prove your stress case, you'd have to have some evidence, e.g. medical records showing that you sought treatment, medical bills etc.

Talk to a dozen pre-screened attorneys and you will get a pretty good feel of whether you have a case or not. DO NOT go with the first attorney you talk to before you consult others as well. The initial consultation is usually free.

[commentator]

Like, wow. I never knew this. Can you cite us some law? Why are there no lawyers on daytime television saying, "Hey, if you are having stress due to a HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT, please call us! We will sue 4 u!!!" ?