Legal Question in Employment Law in District of Columbia

Re: Slander or Discrimination

There is, of course, and can never be, any excuse for sexual assault. The perpetrator of the assault has been criminally charged and will be prosecuted accordingly.

Whether you are now the victim of federally prohibited sexual harrassment based upon the fact scenario you have offered seems somewhat dubious, but you may wish to consult a

labor and employment law attorney to explore

your situation in greater detail.

Re: Slander or Discrimination

First, as you probably realize, you did the right thing by reporting what happened to your employer and the police.

You may have a discrimination case. Determining whether you do depends on a complete analysis of the facts, including how your employer has responded to your report (have they disciplined this man? prevented him from working with you?), whether the assaulting party still works with you (is he incarcerated?), whether he has done anything else that could be construed as harassment, how the assualt affected the conditions of your job. You may also have other causes of action--for instance, if the man who assualted you had a history of this kind of conduct that your employer knew about, your employer may have been negligent in hiring him. Depending on what your supervisors are saying about you and to whom they are saying it, you might have a cause of action for slander/defamation.

If you want to discuss any of this further, I am glad to do so. However, I am in New York, and if you do decide to speak with an attorney, you may want to talk to someone in the D.C. area. I know a lawyer named Joe Gebhardt who represents employees in discrimination cases. His number is (202) 496-0400. You may also email or call me with any questions.