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Retaliation for Filing Sexual Harassment Claim

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What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas

I work 2nd shift at a production plant. My employer is contracted by this production plant, therefore there is no HR on staff at my facility for my company. Corporate is based in Florida.

There are only 2 other employees in my department after 5pm. One is a girl who started 3 weeks after me, the other is my male supervisor. There is another employee in what is technically another department sometimes in the same area during our shift.

I filed a sexual harassment complaint tonight against the male supervisor I work 2nd shift with and my manager over him and me told me that he would have to send me home since I couldn't work with the guy I filed the complaint against. Here's the problem. After I filed the complaint a write up from 2 months ago mysteriously showed up on my desk. This is the first time I'd ever seen it. Needless to say I didn't sign it. Second I was escorted out and asked for my security badge. I denied. I wasn't officially fired, but needless to say there are things not right here. I plan to contact EEOC in the morning since I feel like retaliation is obvious here, but I'm not confident I'll get much help there.

Also, I was asked to write up a description of the incident before I left, which I did and copied our ethics department in Florida on as well as sent a copy to my personal email.

First question, if I wanted to seek a lawyer, can a Kansas lawyer help me or would it have to be a lawyer out of Florida?

Second question, since I feel like they are looking for an excuse to fire me, what do I do now? I wasn't told not to report to work tomorrow, but the fact that they asked for my security badge is shady. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Slow down. You're getting WAY ahead of yourself.

Your first step is to call corporate HR. Even if they're in a different state. Give them a chance to fix it. It will help any claim you eventually file; if you can't say that you've exhausted all administrative remedies, it can seriously harm your claim.

If after a reasonable length of time the harassment/retaliation has not ceased, THEN you call the EEOC. They WILL ask what you've done to try to fix it internally. Keep in mind that they are NOT required to fire the guy or make any discipline public. They are NOT required to tell you what they've done or even if they've done anything. They are NOT required to move him, or you, so that you no longer work with him. They are required to do one thing and one thing only - make any illegal behavior stop.

It will take a minimum of six months for the EEOC to complete their investigation, and if it takes as little as six months consider yourself lucky. You CANNOT take any legal action until they have completed their investigation AND issued you a right to sue letter. So you have plenty of time to find an attorney, and you find one in Kansas, not Florida. You have 90 days after a right to sue letter is issued to take legal action, but you cannot do so ahead of time.
 

Shadowbunny

Queen of the Not-Rights
cbg, I'm curious: does the fact that she's a contractor change anything? And does it matter if the alleged offender is contracted by the same company? (Purely a learning opportunity on my part.)
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Not really. She's still entitled to a harassment free workplace. And thanks for bringing up a point I forgot to mention - she needs to be talking with her employer as well as the client company. OP, call your employer FIRST.
 

eerelations

Senior Member
cbg, I'm curious: does the fact that she's a contractor change anything? And does it matter if the alleged offender is contracted by the same company? (Purely a learning opportunity on my part.)
I don't think OP is a contractor, from her description it sounds more like she's an agency employee. And that the agency's HR person is somewhere else. And that the supervisor who is harassing her is not employed by the agency, but by the agency's client (at whose site she works).
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
That's what I assumed also. But where I work, agency temps are referred to as "contractors" (they fall under the "contractor" definition for benefits) so I think I forgot that not everyone thinks that way.
 
Slow down. You're getting WAY ahead of yourself.

Your first step is to call corporate HR. Even if they're in a different state. Give them a chance to fix it. It will help any claim you eventually file; if you can't say that you've exhausted all administrative remedies, it can seriously harm your claim.

If after a reasonable length of time the harassment/retaliation has not ceased, THEN you call the EEOC. They WILL ask what you've done to try to fix it internally. Keep in mind that they are NOT required to fire the guy or make any discipline public. They are NOT required to tell you what they've done or even if they've done anything. They are NOT required to move him, or you, so that you no longer work with him. They are required to do one thing and one thing only - make any illegal behavior stop.

It will take a minimum of six months for the EEOC to complete their investigation, and if it takes as little as six months consider yourself lucky. You CANNOT take any legal action until they have completed their investigation AND issued you a right to sue letter. So you have plenty of time to find an attorney, and you find one in Kansas, not Florida. You have 90 days after a right to sue letter is issued to take legal action, but you cannot do so ahead of time.
HR has been contacted. I've been trying to get someone to respond, but I'm having difficulty. My case has been passed around to about 3 different people and the last guy only called to tell me my case was passed off to someone else. I'm not asking for the guy to be fired, just the inappropriate conversation to stop. I don't have a problem working with him. I have a problem with the fact that he's initiating inappropriate conversation with two female employees that he is supervisor to.
 
I don't think OP is a contractor, from her description it sounds more like she's an agency employee. And that the agency's HR person is somewhere else. And that the supervisor who is harassing her is not employed by the agency, but by the agency's client (at whose site she works).
I physically work in the office of an automotive plant. The company that I actually work for is contracted to provide logistics services for the automotive company. It's not a placement agency that I work for, I work for a logistics company. There probably about 30 employees on site with two of those being managers. I've had issues with the first manager being not responsive, the second just transferred in a couple of weeks ago. The supervisor I have issues with is the 2nd shift supervisor so he's under both the other managers. We don't have any HR on site. I've informed my HR who is in another state both by phone and via email with little response. I hope this clears up any confusion I may have caused.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
If you only filed the complaint last night, which is what you stated in your OP, and at 10:18 am the next morning you're concerned that you don't have a response from HR yet, your expectations are too high.
 
If you only filed the complaint last night, which is what you stated in your OP, and at 10:18 am the next morning you're concerned that you don't have a response from HR yet, your expectations are too high.
I've had a previous complaint on file for over a month now. This incident just adds to it.
 

commentator

Senior Member
Is your male supervisor an employee of the contract agency you work for, or of the actual automotive plant? So were you officially "walked off the site" as in told you were terminated, not to report to your worksite again? When you asked the supervisor what was the deal with the written warning which mysteriously appeared on your desk, what was the response?" Agree with others, you are way ahead of yourself. First you try to resolve the problem within the work place. It isn't clear exactly where you are in this process with your employer. Then you file a complaint with the EEOC. Then you wait for them to investigate, this takes quite a while. Then if they find that you do have a legitimate complaint against the employer, at that time you retain an attorney and begin the process. Hint: This could be many months from now, even if they find in your favor.If you have been terminated, you file immediately for unemployment insurance as soon as you are no longer working.

Provided you have worked long enough and have enough quarters of wages to set up a claim, your claim will be established and the reason you were terminated will be explored by the agency. If they determine that you are out of a job through no fault of your own, in other words, not for a job related misconduct reason, you may be approved to draw unemployment benefits for up to about six months at $275. As I said, it may be many months before any sexual harassment claim is ready to be followed up on, so unemployment would be your first recourse if you are terminated.
Be sure you keep up with all the write ups and paperwork and document when and what as far as previous complaints you have made to the employer, keeping in mind that as soon as you are terminated, you will lose access to company emails, etc.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
I've had a previous complaint on file for over a month now. This incident just adds to it.
That would have been good information to include in your previous post, then. It doesn't change my answer, but it changes the length of time I would consider "reasonable" to allow HR to act.

The answers you get are only going to be as good as the information you provide.
 

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