Employee named in law suite against company for sexual harrasment and wrongful firing

[adamdaniel72]

New York

My company is being sued for wrongful termination because the lady is a "women" and us creating a "hostile environment"....

there is the plaintiff then the company, the HR lady, another employee who is her manager and then me. mind you none of us work at the company any longer.
she is claiming that she was fired after complaining about a hostile work environment for women even though no other women are suing. she is accusing me of speaking very vulgar language not to her but with other co workers of mine In joking manners that aren't appropriate.. "such as I had great sex last night" and blames others for this behavior as well... but for whatever reason she is only putting me in the case. she mentions the other men in detail but no chargers against them. mind you these are false allegations' and there are no witnesses to this. but now im stuck having to pay for an attorney to defend myself... they are not letting us know if they are paying for the attorney so what should I do? I don't have the money and to be honest I don't have to spend thousands of dollars for things I never said... what type of money can she even sue me for? I didn't fire her nor hire her. her manager fired her for lack of performance why would I even be on this case?

her manager and the HR never reported this to me and if I was being inappropriate wouldn't it be for the employer to fire me? what realistically is going to happen here? I can easily bring women employees to defend me that worked at the company

 

[FlyingRon]

Talk to the company and see if their counsel can get you removed from the suit. If not, get your own attorney.

 

[Just Blue]

New York

My company is being sued for wrongful termination because the lady is a "women" and us creating a "hostile environment"....

there is the plaintiff then the company, the HR lady, another employee who is her manager and then me. mind you none of us work at the company any longer.
she is claiming that she was fired after complaining about a hostile work environment for women even though no other women are suing. she is accusing me of speaking very vulgar language not to her but with other co workers of mine In joking manners that aren't appropriate.. "such as I had great sex last night" and blames others for this behavior as well... but for whatever reason she is only putting me in the case. she mentions the other men in detail but no chargers against them. mind you these are false allegations' and there are no witnesses to this. but now im stuck having to pay for an attorney to defend myself... they are not letting us know if they are paying for the attorney so what should I do? I don't have the money and to be honest I don't have to spend thousands of dollars for things I never said... what type of money can she even sue me for? I didn't fire her nor hire her. her manager fired her for lack of performance why would I even be on this case?

her manager and the HR never reported this to me and if I was being inappropriate wouldn't it be for the employer to fire me? what realistically is going to happen here? I can easily bring women employees to defend me that worked at the company

Curious...Why do you have woman in " "?

 

[LdiJ]

New York

My company is being sued for wrongful termination because the lady is a "women" and us creating a "hostile environment"....

there is the plaintiff then the company, the HR lady, another employee who is her manager and then me. mind you none of us work at the company any longer.
she is claiming that she was fired after complaining about a hostile work environment for women even though no other women are suing. she is accusing me of speaking very vulgar language not to her but with other co workers of mine In joking manners that aren't appropriate.. "such as I had great sex last night" and blames others for this behavior as well... but for whatever reason she is only putting me in the case. she mentions the other men in detail but no chargers against them. mind you these are false allegations' and there are no witnesses to this. but now im stuck having to pay for an attorney to defend myself... they are not letting us know if they are paying for the attorney so what should I do? I don't have the money and to be honest I don't have to spend thousands of dollars for things I never said... what type of money can she even sue me for? I didn't fire her nor hire her. her manager fired her for lack of performance why would I even be on this case?

her manager and the HR never reported this to me and if I was being inappropriate wouldn't it be for the employer to fire me? what realistically is going to happen here? I can easily bring women employees to defend me that worked at the company

Your wording was a little awkward so I just wanted to make sure that you understand that the person suing all of you is the plaintiff, and you and everyone who is being sued are the defendents.

I agree with Flyingron, your goal should be to get removed from the suit. If the company attorneys cannot help you with that (or won't help you with that) then you need an attorney of your own.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

More curious... Why did you feel the need to write "the lady is a 'women'" are there more than one of them.

And even if you meant "woman" you already said the was a lady.

 

[Zigner]

To be pedantic, the OP's got women in quotes, not a single woman.

 

[Zigner]

More curious... Why did you feel the need to write "the lady is a 'women'" are there more than one of them.

Yeah, that.

 

[LdiJ]

Yeah, that.

I think perhaps he was intending to convey that the company is bring accused of being a hostile environment for women in general. His wording was a bit awkward all through his original post.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I think perhaps he was intending to convey that the company is bring accused of being a hostile environment for women in general. His wording was a bit awkward all through his original post.

Especially with the 'a "women"'

 

[adamdaniel72]

Your wording was a little awkward so I just wanted to make sure that you understand that the person suing all of you is the plaintiff, and you and everyone who is being sued are the defendents.

I agree with Flyingron, your goal should be to get removed from the suit. If the company attorneys cannot help you with that (or won't help you with that) then you need an attorney of your own.

That is my goal, I don’t feel that I belong in this suit. She claims she over heard me speaking nasty then she should have went to HR and HR should have reprimanded me... but my question is if I didn’t fire or hire her how can I be responsible financially?

 

[adjusterjack]

You've denied saying things directly to her but have implied that you did talk about sex jokingly with co-workers. That makes you properly a defendant in the lawsuit if you contributed to her discomfort, even indirectly.

If you've been served with a summons and complaint, you need to answer it properly or face a default judgment for any amount that the court sees fit to assess against you.

 

[adamdaniel72]

You've denied saying things directly to her but have implied that you did talk about sex jokingly with co-workers. That makes you properly a defendant in the lawsuit if you contributed to her discomfort, even indirectly.

If you've been served with a summons and complaint, you need to answer it properly or face a default judgment for any amount that the court sees fit to assess against you.

I am not saying I did, she is claiming I did... there are not witnesses and I have multiple women who worked there that would write a statement for me and present it. What I’m saying is what can I possibly financially be liable for ? I did not employ her I did not fire her ? There were other people who allegedly did the same thing ? Has anyone had a case like this before ? I’m asking because I feel it’s ridiculous for me to spend money on an attorney when I did nothing wrong

 

[LdiJ]

You've denied saying things directly to her but have implied that you did talk about sex jokingly with co-workers. That makes you properly a defendant in the lawsuit if you contributed to her discomfort, even indirectly.

If you've been served with a summons and complaint, you need to answer it properly or face a default judgment for any amount that the court sees fit to assess against you.

The lawsuit is a wrongful termination suit. I could see her claiming that he is a material (and hostile) witness, but he had no control over hiring or firing, so he had no control over her termination.

I agree that he needs to answer it properly but this suit is not about sexual harassment in the workplace, its about wrongful termination. Yes, its potential sexual harassment that lead to the wrongful termination (and hence why he might be a material witness) but again, he had no power to hire or fire so he should not be a defendent.

 

[adamdaniel72]

The lawsuit is a wrongful termination suit. I could see her claiming that he is a material (and hostile) witness, but he had no control over hiring or firing, so he had no control over her termination.

I agree that he needs to answer it properly but this suit is not about sexual harassment in the workplace, its about wrongful termination. Yes, its potential sexual harassment that lead to the wrongful termination (and hence why he might be a material witness) but again, he had no power to hire or fire so he should not be a defendent.

Right she is claiming we didn’t follow the employee handbook on how to act in the workplace, which again is completely false and I have multiple witness to defend me... but regardless, if someone can please explain to me how in the world can I be financially responsible when I had no hiring or firing abilities ?? And what amount could it possible even be... she is stating emotional distress ?? Why do I have to prove I’m innocent instead of her proving I’m guilty... these are all allegations with 0 witness... can I counter sue for defamation of character? And attorney fees ?

 

[eerelations]

You don't have to have had hiring/firing authority over her in order to be held responsible.