Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in Pennsylvania
Gay prejudice in the workplace
A supervisor recently asked me who a friend of mine is whom calls my workplace every so often. When I answer that she's my partner, my supervisor responds ''that she knew that, she just wanted to see how I'd answer.'' My supervisor goes on to tell me that her sister is also gay and it is her ''choice'' to live that lifestyle. Since then she has made several comments to me about the choice of my lifestyle. Here is my concern: I recently came to her for some help because I felt that my confidence in my sales performance was lacking a bit and could she help me. She responded that my problem is that I'm not confident in my ''choice'' of lifestyle, and because of this I can't open up to people. So essentially, my ''choice'' is effecting my ability to do my job. I feel that this comment especially is inappropriate as my personal life should not be a factor in her explanation. Furthermore, I have a gay coworker who was expressing a different concern with his performance and she implied that his ''choice'' was affecting his job as well. I feel that she has stepped over a line here and my job could be in jeopardy because all of a sudden ''I'm not the right person for this position'' What should I do & is there a legal course of action I should take?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Gay prejudice in the workplace
Whether you can do anything depends upon where you are. There is no Pennsylvania law that prohibits discrmination based on sexual orientation. However, certain cities (including Philadelphia) have local ordinances prohibiting such discrimination. Also, certain employers have non-discrimination policies which they have adopted.
There also may be other ways to assert discrimination based on the particular circumstances.
You should speak with an attorney to determine if any laws or company policies would apply in this situation. I offer free consultations.
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