Sexual harassment wrongfully accused

[Kristy1508]

What is the name of your state?North Carolina employment state south carolina

My husband was wrongly accused of sexual harassment. This all started Friday when a woman at work was asking my husband how his home life is. This is not unusual as he works with this woman daily and he trained her for the same position he is in. They got to know each other well as they have a lot of time to talk while training. Anyway she continued to ask my husband out to go have drinks to get together after work or through the week for him to skip his schooling and go meet her. He told her he was not interested and they continued to work well then she proceeded to ask if he like tatoos and if he had any. He said he didnt have any but didnt have anything against them. She continued to go on about her tatoos where they are located and what they are of. At this point my husband was uncomfortable and told that he didnt like the situarion and walked away. Saturday when he went into work he was called into the office and explained that she had said he sexually harassed her and asked him questions like what happend when where that type of thing but never really asked him his side of the story. The two continued to have to work together same area same ailse passing each other all day. After all this he went to lunch the first in the break room two other male friends came in and sat with him. Then she came in and sat across from him. my husband should have got up and walked away but he just turned his back. How can someone who acusses of sexual harassment go in and sit with the accused like nothing happened well i really know why because it didnt. She left crying early that day. Again sunday they were put on the floor together working same aisle same area. His manager who had just returned from out of town on business then beging to question my husband again now pending an investigaion my husband has to wait until friday to find out the outcome. Where he will then again be working with this woman. Should they not have sent one of them home? If it was my husband that is find it just made him very uncomfortable. He is worried about his career. The managers keep telling him not to worry they dont believe he will lose his job and some have said they dont think he will get the supervisor position that has worked hard for and just put in for on friday. I'm worried that this woman will not lose her job and think she should. Is there anything we can do about this. I am also worried that my husband will be asked to switch shifts which is not possible as he is in school all week morning and night classes. What can we do? It will now be hard for my husband to say she said these things to here because it looks like retaleation. Even though its really not. I'm just really worried about the outcome and if there is still anythig we can do about what she said to him?
I hope i got all the information needed as this is the second time i have tried to post this. Please let me know if there are any questions. Also two other men have went to management since this has occured and told them she had said the same things to them.

 

[Beth3]

Saturday when he went into work he was called into the office and explained that she had said he sexually harassed her and asked him questions like what happend when where that type of thing but never really asked him his side of the story. So when they asked him questions like "what happened" isn't that his golden opportunity to tell them WHAT HAPPENED and therefore his side of the story???

Then she came in and sat across from him. my husband should have got up and walked away but he just turned his back. How can someone who acusses of sexual harassment go in and sit with the accused like nothing happened A complainant behaving in this manner (which I've seen before) does indeed cause her allegations to be suspect.

His manager who had just returned from out of town on business then beging to question my husband again now pending an investigaion my husband has to wait until friday to find out the outcome. Where he will then again be working with this woman. Should they not have sent one of them home? Sending the complainant home smacks of retaliation so that's usually not an option. Yes, they could have sent your huband home but then I imagine you'd be asking whether it was legal to suspend him while they are investigating (yes).

The managers keep telling him not to worry they dont believe he will lose his job and some have said they dont think he will get the supervisor position that has worked hard for and just put in for on friday. It's inappropriate for the managers to be making any comments to your husband at this point, it does seem to suggest that they feel her complaint is without merit.

I'm worried that this woman will not lose her job and think she should. Okay, I understand why you're of that opinion but I can guarantee you that unless the employer has proof that the woman knowingly lied about these allegations, they will not terminate her.

Is there anything we can do about this. Other than wait for the outcome of the investigation, no.

I am also worried that my husband will be asked to switch shifts which is not possible as he is in school all week morning and night classes. What can we do? Yes, it's possible they may requre him to change shifts as a result of all this.

It will now be hard for my husband to say she said these things to here because it looks like retaleation. Even though its really not. I'm just really worried about the outcome and if there is still anythig we can do about what she said to him? Again, unless there is PROOF that she is lying, no.

Also two other men have went to management since this has occured and told them she had said the same things to them. Then that bodes very well for your husband.

 

[Kristy1508]

The question wasnt really what happened sorry mistake on my part if was mainly questions regarding why would she do this? those types of questions. At the end of the conversations my husband was able to ask would you like to know where the tatoo is? And in response he got oh yeah that would help and that was the end of the conversation.

In regards to we probably would have been asking the question why if they sent him home the anwser is no. This company procedure is if there is a confilct and investigaion. One or both partys is sent home until the conclussion. I just know they were both uncomfortable being at work together working side by side.

The comments about dont worry about it were for the manager doing the investigation but the comment about his supervisor situation was done by someone not involved.

 

[cbg]

Why would she do this? Because she was afraid that your husband would report her inappropriate conduct and decided to get her side of the story in first. That's not hard to understand at all.

It is VERY hard to fire someone who has reported sexual harassment unless they stop doing their work or get caught with their hand in the cash drawer. Fire or suspend someone who has filed an SH report without VERY clear evidence of misconduct or a VERY, VERY clear business reason why it should be done (such as the entire department being eliminated and everyone losing their jobs) and the company can just sit back and wait for the lawsuit to get filed. Sounds like she's smart enough to know that if she's filed a complaint of SH, she's got a certain amount of protection if your husband says no, that's not what happened at all. Now, if they're able to prove that she lied, then they can go ahead and fire her little ass. But she's fixed it so that they need proof.

The law does not require that either party be sent home. Even if that's company policy, they don't HAVE to do it that way. If the two of them are uncomfortable working together, that's understandable but there is no legal requirement that it be handled that way.

 

[Kristy1508]

The thing is she is on the verge of losing her job with 3 coachings the previous weekend and just messing somthing else up just prior to going to management with this. This is a production job where you have to do a certain percent. I'm not saying she can't do the job because of her age or because she is a woman but it is very hard to do this job unless you are a very physicaly inclined person. But like i said she is on the verge of being fired of not making production.

 

[cbg]

That makes it even easier to understand why she would do this. She thinks if she files an SH complaint, they won't be able to fire her.

She's wrong. If they have documentation that her job performance has been sub-par, they can fire her whether she files a complaint or not. But the fact remains that after someone has filed an SH complaint, management has to walk a VERY fine line because of the protections afforded to someone who has filed such a complaint.