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Retaliation After 6+ Years Of Reporting Hostile Work Environment

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ostatecowboy67

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma


I work for the Government. For the past 6+ years I have worked in an office environment where I am only one of 3 male employees. Both of the other male employees agree that we are treated differently, but I am the only one who it has gotten to this level. During that time I have reported numerous incidents of sexual harassment, including being shown nude photos of a female co-workers. I have kept all emails that were sent to my Supervisor and their Boss. I also have sent numerous emails about sexual comments made by female co-workers including sexual acts, terms that describe sexual preference, comments about the appearance and body of clients, etc. I even had reported when one of the female employees had sent out a basketball bracket, which is against our Agency policy. My Wife and I recently were going on a trip to Mexico, and prior to me leaving another incident happened at work. This time a female co-worker had sent out several jokes that were derogatory towards men. I forwarded it to the Supervisor and their Boss, both of which are female. The next day when I arrived at work none of the female co-workers would talk to me. They would not tell me why, but finally one of the other female co-workers said the reason was my Supervisor told that employee I reported her. She then told others.

At that point I wrote to my Supervisor's Boss and said that I wanted to meet as the hostile work environment, breach of confidentiality by the Supervisor, etc. had been going on for 6+ years. It wasn't the first time that I had reported wrongdoing in the office, and it wasn't the first time that the individuals not only knew I had done it but were able to quote verbatum the language that I used with the Supervisor I also wrote that if it was something she did not feel needed to be addressed, or felt that she did not want to deal with it, then I was going to file with our Office of Civil Rights, our Area Office or the EEOC. The Boss wrote me back saying she was busy, but would like to meet with me when I returned from my 8 day vacation. The first day back at work I received word from my Supervisor informing me her Boss wanted to meet with me in 30 minutes. I went to her office, but they would not allow me past the front lobby. Finally after 1 1/2 hours I was allowed back to talk to her, and in the room was the Boss and her Superior. I was informed that due to my request they had sent out a team to interview the employees, and the result was that "I" had been accussed of sexually inappropriate comments, derogatory comments towards clients and the unauthorized use of forms I had not received approval to use. Based on that they were conducting a formal investigation and I was being "re-located for up to 60 days while the investigation took place."

Needless to say I was in shock. I asked why I wasn't given the chance to meet with the team, since my reporting of the hostile work environment was the trigger for the team coming out. I was told they weren't interested in my allegations. I went ahead and brought up 3-4 incidents, and the Supervisor's Boss said "Oh, my name, I don't recall you ever having told me that." I said nothing, but I have 6+ years of emails and notes from meetings that I have exchanged with those in my chain of command. I asked again how could "all" employees have been interviewed if I wasn't interviewed. I was told by the Area Boss he felt enough information had been gathered that it warranted looking at the "entire office." I then asked if they were looking at everyone why was I the only one who was being re-located. The answer was that it was being done to protect me so that no one else could claim I had done or said anything. I was not allowed to get my things or return to my office. I was instructed to report to another office many miles away. I was also told they expected this to be wrapped up in 20 days. It has now been the full 60 days and I still have not been allowed to get my things.

I did finally get to meet with the Investigator after 45 days, but suprisingly their Boss attended. It is important to note that the Boss did not show up for any of the other interviews with my female co-workers. I aso was the last person interviewed. The Investigator started the interview, but soon their Boss took over and asked questions which had nothing to do with the investigation. They were very arrogant, and any time that I tried to answer I was interrupted. Many times the Boss would laugh and then make a sarcastic comment. They asked me about several allegations made against me. Once when I told them that these were all lies I was asked why would someone lie about me. I attempted to tell them I felt it was retaliatory on behalf of my female co-workers who had gotten in trouble for gambling in the office, the inappropriate emails, their language in the office, etc. The Boss laughed and said "well, I don't know about you, but if I would get in trouble I sure wouldn't verify that I had taken part in something like that." That was his attitude the entire time. He seemed totally disinterested in my side of things, and I literally had to force my allegations into the conversations. And, they didn't write down any of the names of inviduals I gave them who could verify my claims. Also, since I was the last one interviewed that means they will not be talking to my female co-workers or ask them about the allegations that I had raised.

I forgot to mention at the beginning of the meeting I was forced to sign a paper that said I would not speak with other employees at my Agency about our meeting. I then asked if i could get in trouble for doing that, and they said I could be terminated. I then asked if the other employees had been required to sign the same form. Their answer was that they had been required to sign it. I then told them that I had proof, which I provided to the two of them in the form of screen prints, where my co-workers has been out on a social network that starts with an F, and they had been discussing details of the case. A mutual friend had sent them to me. The Investigator and their Boss again seemed disinterested in this fact and the Boss joked "well, we surelly cannot control everything people do on these type of sites." They also asked me why I hadn't taken my allegations outside of the Agency if I felt that my rights had been violated for so long. I replied "Can I ask the same about the allegations by my female co-workers, as the timeline you are giving me is from 2-4 year ago?" They looked at each other, and then asked if they could have a break. After returning from the break they told me that they had to wrap up the meeting and get back to the office. The meeting ended about 10 minutes later. I still didn't get to give my side.

I know this all seems far-fetched, but literally this entire matter has been handled this way. I have proof that I have been trying for 6+ years to report sexual harassment, hostile work environment, etc. and it fell in deaf ears. Then they "allegedly" come out to interview "all" employees after I said I would go above them, and I ended up being the one looked at. And, it was only at the end I was given a chance to give my side of things. I also found out that another investigative branch of our Agency had taken my computer for a week. No one else's computer was taken. At this point the Investigator said she will make a report to the Area Office, which are the ones who came out to the office and I feel "intentionally" did not allow me the chance to talk to them, and then they will make a decision. I would like to know your thoughts on what has happened, and what my rights are at this time. I know that they have not made a final decision on the investigation, but to this point it has been so biased that I do not feel that a fair decision can be rendered. I don't feel even in the best case that I could return to that office without worrying each day that someone was going to make up more lies about it.

I cannot believe how quickly they acted when a female made a claim against me, but to this day seem unphased by the fact I have been reporting incidents for 6+ years. I also feel that I was retaliated against by my female co-workers for them getting in trouble after I had reported them for the hostile work environment, conducted unbecoming public employee, etc. And, to be honest I feel the Agency has also retaliated against me when the Supervisor and Boss ignored my claims, as well as the biased investigation potentially being retaliatory.
 
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las365

Senior Member
Looks like another initial post eaten by the program. That happens a lot since the forum change, doesn't it?
 

ostatecowboy67

Junior Member
I'm sorry, it does look like the original post was eaten by the program. Thankfully I copied it first. I am sorry it is so long, but I honestly could have put more. I just didn't want to leave anythign out. Do I have a case of retaliation by my female co-workers and/or the Agency for how this entire process has been handled. If not do I have recourse should I be disciplined due to the biased way the entire investigation has been handled? Again, my complaints of sexual harassment, hostile work environment, etc. have either been ignored for the past 6+ years, or my female Supervisor or her Boss, also a female, just send out an email to all of us warning us to clean it up. But when I am accussed of the very same things an investigation is instigated against me. Any help, advice or quidance would be helpful?
 

las365

Senior Member
You're right, it is way too long. Can you provide short answers to the following:

When did you file your EEOC claim?
What adverse personnel action have you experienced (demotion, firing, other loss of income) in retaliation for making your sexual harassment complaint?
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Yes, take all that unnecessary information out of your post, and for heaven's sake, don't add anything else!

How offensive could you have found the environment if all you did for 6 years was send emails? When nothing was done, why did you not take it to the next level?

At any rate, none of that matters. You don't know what the investigation will determine, but you can file your EEOC claim tomorrow. You can also consult an employment lawyer. Expect them to ask the same questions that I did.
 

ostatecowboy67

Junior Member
When did you file your EEOC claim? I have not filed with them yet. After consulting with our Office of Civil Rights I was told "The Agency remembers the people who file, so for your future I would recommend trying to resolve it internally." I never imagined that when someone finally came out to listen to my allegations that it would get turned around on me.

What adverse personnel action have you experienced (demotion, firing, other loss of income) in retaliation for making your sexual harassment complaint? I would answer that my being moved to another office where I have to drive farther, not being allowed to get my things, not being given the chance to tell my allegations until the last person (me) was interviewed, which ensures no one else will get interviewed, the bias conducting of the investigation, which includes the participation of the Investigator's Boss, who as I said did not attend one other interview, but took over this one. I know for the essence of retaliation there needs to be some type of disciplinary action, but I have read cases where the actions or inactions of the female co-workers and/or the Administration could be linked to retaliation. I reported wrongdoing and because of that they not only made up lies, but the Administration put their allegations first and foremost while still ignoring my allegations.
 

swalsh411

Senior Member
Either file an EEOC complaint or live with it. Those are your options. If you're not willing to formally file a complaint it can't be that bad. As my grandma used to say "poop or get off the pot".
 

ostatecowboy67

Junior Member
Thank you for the suggestion. My Grandmother said the same thing. I downloaded the forms last night to file with the EEOC, as well as the Office of Civil Rights within our own Agency. i don't know that anything will happen as a result of the so-called Investigation, but it has been so clearly biased I cannot imagine the outcome being any more fair. I guess that a male claiming sexual harassment is such a foreign idea that my Agency didn't and doesn't think that anything can be done. I did find out that the Investigator's Boss had several Investigations thrown out by the EEOC due to them being conducted in a similarly shoddy and biased fashion.

I appreciate everyone's feedback. I think my main purpose in writing was to see if others thought anything unusual about what had occurred thusfar, and if there were grounds to file with the EEOC, etc. And, I apologize for it being so long, but honestly it could have been longer. So much has happened and it seems almost like a bad soap opera. I never imagined I could work for an employer who would blatently ignore a male's allegations while seemingly at the same time giving the utmost attention and effort to similar claims by female co-workers. The fact that not once in my 21+ years with the State have I been accused of something like this, nor was any of this ever brought up prior to me telling Administration either they could address it or I would go to another place, EEOC, Office of Civil Rights, etc.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
Please understand that I am not you and I am not judging you. My perspective on many of the things you have said would be quite different. I think it would be cool to work with a group of woman as laid back and relaxed as you indicate these woman are. To be honest, many woman are the ones complaining of the same things and I shudder to think of how stale and pristine their home lives are. It does not appear you have been the victim of any direct sexual assault or quid pro quo sexual harassment.
 

commentator

Senior Member
And I believe, after many years of working in and with state government agencies, that you spent too many years muttering around under your breath that you were going to file this or that you weren't going to take it anymore and yada yada.... We had a few employees like this, minorities who yelled discrimination with every work assignment, females who always thought they were being sexually harrassed and people who thought they were being discriminated against because they were vets, something like this going on with them all the time, but they never had filed legitimate complaints with anyone. Like the little boy who cried wolf, you've lost your credibility. And then you scared them, so they started trying to build a case against you.

Your employer being the state, I am sure that you have had required EEOC and sexual harrassment trainings given to all employees, and that there is a compliance officer for EEOC within your department. For them to tell you that they advised you not to file a complaint
because people are remembered who file complaints was massively stupid of them if they really said this, but for you to let it deter you if you really were being subjected to any kind of serious sexual harrassment was even dumber.

You're civil service, aren't you? So you've been there all these years, and they really can't treat you much worse than they did already, what were you afraid of, when you kept mouthing about how you were going to do something but never did it?

Now that this has arisen to the point of being warned and investigated and semi-suspended and their taking action against you, in this case I would strongly suggest that you retain your own attorney and begin process to do the EEOC complaint and retaliation against them. I have seen this happen, where a situation in state government was allowed to drag on and on and on for years, and then finally it came to a head. No one was ever heard from until someone retained an attorney and began processes to sue the department.
And then the less than brilliant heads of the department began striking out wildly, as this 60 day send off to another office seems to have been toward you.

If you do have an attorney, you will be able to hear all the testimony that has been given about you and concerning you and the allegations that have been made against you. You will file your complaints, notify your department that you are serious about this situation, and that you expect no retaliation, and that you expect no ill effects to your career with the department because of this on going problem.

It might have been handled differently at many points over the last few years, but having become what you describe to us, I am seriously advising you at this time to retain an attorney. After 21 years with the state, you do not want to end up terminated for misconduct without your benefits and pension, or have it on record that you are the one who was actually doing the sexual harrassment. Having an attorney to advise you at this point seems really worth it to me. The state has all sorts of built in protections and civil service regulations for employees but you are not informed, and not at this point able to negotiate the system without serious assistance. Your "gee, I didn't realize they would do this to me after all these years!" and "Do you all think there's anything odd about their doing this?" isn't doing anything to help you.
 
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ostatecowboy67

Junior Member
Thank you. I know some might think your reply blunt but I actually could use some blunt right not. I have had our local employees union and a Senator tell me how "heads were going to roll," but as of yet I still have not seen any head roll except for mine. I think it is time like you said to get my own attorney and to look out for #1. I do appreciate the information.
 

commentator

Senior Member
I have been involved in several cases like this, and it appears to me that the people who fared best in the whole messy deals were those who actually retained attorneys. Example in case, they were collecting evidence at a departmental level against a supervisor who really facilitiated a sexual predator being around for years, and those of us who had knowledge of the situation were interviewed by our departmental authorities and assured that what we said in this investigation was completely confidential.

Then when the people under investigation retained attorneys they were entitled to hear everything any of us had said. And they came out smelling like roses in the long run. It impressed me that the one who has the best attorney thrives in a state government office. Of course the bitter feelings from who said what in this investigation lingered for years. But the time to be smart and sharp and protect your own interests is NOW. Do not depend on any employees union representative or any EEOC person or anyone else but you and your attorney to protect your interests in this matter.
 

ostatecowboy67

Junior Member
Update of thread as of October 7, 2012 - Discharge proposed

Well, my fears were realized when I received a Notice of Proposed Disciplinary Action - Discharge. I know several on here advised me to obtain a Lawyer, and I met with numerous Lawyers in an attempt to do that. They would either tell me they had a conflict of interest, they would recommend some other Lawyer, or they would tell me that until the Agency actually terminated me there was no case. In reviewing the Notice from the Agency it is obvious they were on a witch hunt. I forwarded all Notices to a former EEOC Investigator who I know, and he agreed that they were "nitpicking" and stated that "any decent lawyer would be able to pick the entire report a lot." Long story short they now have multiple people who are portraying me as a person who had sexually harassed almost every person in the office, including male employees, that I was demeaning and rude to clients, that I willfully denied benefits to clients, and that I created a hostile work environment based on my comments and the fact I had a commerative baseball bat on a shelf at my desk. What is ironic is the fact they have no evidence of any previous reports from any of the witnesses, and there is no record of discipline. On top of that each and every one of my evaluations is "exceeds standards." To explain their decision to discharge me the Agency is saying that "alleged actions are so serious in nature that they recognize there is no record of the alleged action previously being reported," but now that they have reported them the Agency must take action against me. Suprisingly none of the similar allegations I raised, which were prior to this action, were addressed in the investigation. It is also very imporant to note almost all of the documentation I had submitted that proved my allegations were true was not considered, referenced or used by the Investigator.

There is, however, evidence that none of my "alleged conduct" become an issue or was reported until after my female co-worker was disciplined for having sent out an inappopriate email. The Agency literally provided a copy of her discplinary notice, as well as a letter where they placed her on "cooling off leave" because she became so upset in the office. There are also several emails between that female employee, the Supervisor and the County Director over her displeaure about being disciplined. It was only after that she began to raise issues about me. To further her acts of retaliation she recently filed a false police report in an attempt to obtain a VPO, stating I was stalking her at her home on September 25, 2012. Thankfully I was in a meeting with a Lawyer in another city on the date and time she put in the report. In fact, I can document where I was every hour of that day. I am currently awaiting the hearing on the VPO so I can provide my evidence to the Judge, as well as file charges against her with the DA for her knowingly false statements. But the female employee went to my employer and told them her lies, which resulted in security being assigned to my old office. Yet no one came to me or tried to find out of the allegations by the female employee were true. They just believed her and acted, which further prejudiced me.

My question is where do I go from here? Again, I have talked with several Lawyers, and I am still waiting to hear back from them after informing them I am recommended for termination. To prepare I have meetings on Monday with two more Lawyers I found. I am still a member of our local employee's union, however, after all of their big talk, and then telling me to be patient while all of this was building the past 4 months, they took one look at my Notice and advised me that I need to try and accept some type of resignation agreement. Perhaps that is the best thing to do, but this is also the same people who advised me "the entire office was being looked at" and "my allegations and issues would be heard and addressed. My Wife and I just want to have someone look at our documentation, and then tell us if this is worth pursuing or if we simply need to ride off into the sunset.
 
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commentator

Senior Member
Once again, my advice is to retain an attorney skilled in these type cases, which you are long overdue to have done.

I did not say get a cheap one, or to try to get by as cheaply as possible, to save money if you can by just getting some friend of a friendto do this for you, or anything like that. Good representation is going to cost you money. Don't let this be the place you try to get by without it or go cheap.

Once you are officially terminated, the first week after your termination date (even if you are still receiving severance or vacation pay), file for unemployment insurance benefits. This will be a completely separate case from your EEOC issues, but your attorney will no doubt advise you to file for it promptly so that you can begin seeing what documentations they're going to have about your alleged misconduct.

While you are still there, before you leave, during all this STOP discussing anything about your case with your co workers, former co workers and friends. Keep it off Facebook, shut down your blogs.
 

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