A man who was formerly employed by Harley-Davidson says that he was wrongfully terminated from his position at the company. The man says that he was not only the victim of sexual harassment perpetrated by his co-workers, but he believes he was later fired because he reported the harassment. In his claims, he says that he was the victim of retaliation for reporting sexual harassment to his superiors.
Retaliation is a common component of sexual harassment claims. When retaliatory termination takes place after a worker reports harassment to his or her superiors, Florida employees can seek damages in court. They can also try to get their old jobs back.
In this case, the man says that he was subjected to repeated harassment by a co-worker who continued to accuse him of having a sexual affair with one of his colleagues. The man reported the conduct to his superiors, but the managers at Harley-Davidson allegedly ignored his complaint. The lawsuit says that managers advised him that he should go back to his job duties and simply continue to put up with it.
The allegations in the lawsuit become even more bizarre when, later, the man was fired. According to managers, the man was terminated because he tried to set up his coworkers to get arrested for drug possession. The man claims that these allegations are not true and that he was actually fired out of retaliation for reporting that he was being victimized by sexual harassment.
Florida employers who allow sexual harassment to continue in hostile work environments can be held responsible and liable under the law. Employers who purposefully ignore employee complaints of harassment and then retaliate against the victims of that harassment by firing them can be made to pay financial damages to the employees they have wronged. Florida courts do not take sexual harassment lying down, and victims should feel completely empowered to put a stop to any kind of harassment or unfair, inappropriate treatment they are forced to endure on the job.
Source: pennrecord.com, “Fired Harley-Davidson employee claims termination was retaliation for sexual harassment complaints”, Jon Campisi, April 10, 2014