Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

I was employed at Denny�s Lady Lake, FL from mid-December, 2009 � March, 2011 as a server. During my employment there, I and other servers have been subject to continuous sexual harassment, a severe and pervasive hostile work environment, derogatory comments to the servers and sexual discrimination. The General Manager, Sven Posey has not only created this environment, but allowed this situation to continue.

A description of discrimination and hostile work environment that Sven Posey has caused:

� Sven Posey will yell and discipline a server while on the floor in public (in front of customers). Sven yelled at me in front of my customers and it was demeaning, degrading and humiliating. This happens frequently and customer has told other servers and me that this treatment Sven Posey gives the servers is completely inappropriate.

�Sven knowingly allows and stands behind the verbal abuse of the cooks to the servers and allows the hostile work environment. Sven Posey also causes a hostile work environment because he continually verbally abuses me and other servers. Sven would yell at me to greet the door, even if I am busy and other servers are standing right beside him. He humiliates me and other servers in front of the guest, degrading us and our abilities, and always telling us that we aren�t doing our job. So much so, that the hostile environment was severe and pervasive.

� Shilo Ward, a cook, has had many episodes of creating a hostile work environment to me and other servers with derogatory comments, swearing, throwing knives while on the line, arguing with Sven loudly and guests hearing it. Shilo Ward is told to go home (and he doesn�t) or go take a break. He goes outside, smokes a joint and comes back into work and repeatedly Sven allows it.

� I gave my 2 weeks� notice on Sunday March 6, 2011 when Sven Posey told me that Julian Ong was not fired. He then created an even more hostile environment to me. I had an order that was not made correctly and I went to him to ask if this was how I was supposed to serve it to the guest. Sven Posey looked at me and said �what do you want me to do with it?� I asked again, if that was how it should be served and he got louder and was so loud that the guests in the area all started to look over at me. I finally went back to the kitchen and asked the cook for a �recook�. On Monday, March 7, 2011 I did not call or show up for work. I was mentally drained; felt emotionally abused and was a complete wreck. Company policy is 3 �no call, no show� is call for termination by employer. I was scheduled off the next 3 days and was to be back on Thursday when the new schedule for the week comes out. I was not scheduled for any shifts and was terminated after only one �no call, no show�. A previous employee, Michelle McKee, repeatedly called off 15 minutes prior to her shift, took 2 hour breaks, or �no call no show� and Sven continued to employ her. Everyone in the restaurant wondered why she was given more than ample special privileges prior to her FINALLY being terminated.

� I also believe I was discriminated against because Sven Posey has always maintained a dislike for Michael Ramos who was previously a Co-Manager in this location and is my ex-husband. Michael Ramos was promoted to Systems Administrator with the company and Sven Posey must rely on Michael Ramos for IT technical support.

Sven Posey exhibits sexual discrimination.

� Sven has told servers the procedure of giving a �re-cook� or �drag� to the kitchen. However, when a server does follow procedure, the male cooks make an argument or snide comments to the server, often about the server�s incompetence, regardless that it was the cooks� error in the first place. Cooks such as Shilo Ward and Julian Ong are allowed to continue to make offensive and derogatory slurs, being verbally abusive and sexual innuendos. Management has allowed the cooks to do so or have merely pulled them aside, told them to settle down and go outside for a cigarette. Then Management tells the female server not to talk across the line and the cooks are still permitted to verbally abuse the female servers.

� I have repeatedly reported the sexual discrimination of the cooks to Sven Posey to no avail. I have been brushed off and shushed like a little child.

� Sven Posey will have a disagreement with a cook and instead of threatening to send him home, like he does to a female server; will tell him to take a cigarette break and knowing that the cook goes outside to smoke a joint.

� Sven Posey told a new server, on Saturday, March 5, 2011 which was only her 2nd shift that the female servers are responsible for 95% of all errors that occur, including cook errors.

� Turnover of servers has been increasing rapidly, with most lasting only 2 weeks from their start date.

� Sven Posey continually threatened to stop/forbid any server breaks if he felt they were not adequately doing their job. This would apply to every female server, not just the one who may not have been doing their job. However, the male cooks, regardless of mistakes made, were permitted to take their breaks.

� Sven would make a server work past the required 5.5 hours of work for a break, even though business did not warrant a stop on breaks. He would threaten no breaks for the next day to all servers.

� All the female servers have experienced the hostile environment, the verbal abuse and discrimination by Sven Posey, Shilo Ward, and Julian Ong. Several female servers as well as customers will be willing to supply affidavits to such treatment.

� Sven Posey has called servers �ugly�, sometimes to their face, demean servers by inappropriate name calling, and humiliated female servers.

� Sven knowingly lets cook chew tobacco on the line and spit in the trash cans on the line.

� Sven Posey has a previous alleged charge of sexual harassment at this restaurant location.

� Julian has directly approached a female staff member and was overheard by another female staff member say, �Do you want to fuck?�

� An incident of sexual harassment and hostile work environment occurred on Friday, February 25, 2011 by Julian Ong to me. Julian Ong, a cook, was on the egg station on the cooks� line. I had 2 separate incidents during that morning where the eggs were sent back to the kitchen for a �remake�. Both times it was sent back three times and finally, Caroline White, the manager on duty, had to discount the meals off the check. About 2 hours after these incidents, I picked up one of my orders from the kitchen line and on thee chit was a derogatory comment written on it �Go fuck yourself� (see attached copy of chit). Caroline White was beside me and I immediately showed her the chit. She was shocked and asked who wrote that. I told her my guess was Julian Ong because of the problems from the hours before. She went to the cooks� line and asked Julian Ong if he had wrote that and he answered �yes�. Caroline White took him off the line for a break. When he came back, she said she could see the anger in his eyes and sent him home early from his shift. Caroline White notified the Sven Posey, the General Manager. I also requested that my incident report be sent to the Company Human Resources Director, Bruce Webber as well. That day, at 5:30pm I called Bruce Webber, HR director, and told him of the incident. He still had not been made aware of the incident or received a copy of my complaint. He acknowledged that the action of Julian Ong was inappropriate and he would look into this incident. After that point, Bruce Webber made no further contact with me.

The next day Sven Posey was in the restaurant and at the end of my shift he wanted to sit down and �bond� as he called it. We talked for a half hour and he asked what I wanted to see be done. I told him that Julian should be fired because this inappropriate behavior was just a continuation of the verbal abuse that Shilo Ward and Kenny, also cooks, give the servers. Sven Posey acknowledged that firing Julian Ong would show the others that this continuing treatment of verbal abuse would show a zero tolerance to the others. Sven also continued to protect the male cooks by explaining that their actions of sexual discrimination and hostile environment was due to their nature and was the �pool� of employees he had. An audio tape is available as evidence of that conversation. There are also cameras in the store that would prove incidents; including an incident where Shilo Ward was throwing cooks knives on the kitchen line and Julian Ong writing �Go fuck yourself� on my ticket. These should be available if management has not already destroyed.

Four days later (after my days off), Sven Posey called just as I was starting my shift. He advised me that Julian Ong would be at work and he had been advised to not say anything to me. However, I questioned the quality and timeliness of receiving my food. There were numerous occasions when all my food was on the tray, but Julian would not �sell� it by putting the chit with the order. Standard protocol is not to remove any food until that chit is with the order. I had to ask another server each time to ask for the chit as Julian wouldn�t do it if I asked.

The next week Sven Posey called and said that Bruce Webber, the HR Director and himself would be in to discuss the situation with me. I had not seen Julian Ong during any of my shifts and assumed he had been fired. Sven Posey and Bruce Webber never came in that day, nor did Sven Posey make any effort to talk to me the next day when we worked together. Bruce Webber, Human Resources Director has never made an attempt to contact me to discuss any further actions. Julian Ong was not fired and the cooks continued to verbally abuse the servers. This whole time, Sven Posey knew and permitted the treatment of verbally abusing the girls and creating a hostile environment.

Since the incident, Sven Posey talked to the cooks. Shilo Ward was making snide comments to me like �Sherilyn, wait, let me write something on the chit� in reference to what Julian Ong had done. It was apparent that this treatment toward me would not stop.

Citations of Law

In Faragher v. City of Boca Raton 524 U.S. at 780, it was ruled that Faragher encountered �uninvited and offensive touching,� by making lewd remarks, and by speaking of women in offensive terms, and that this conduct constituted discrimination in the �terms, conditions, and privileges� of her employment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U. S. C. � 2000e�2(a) (1). Following a bench trial, the District Court concluded that the supervisors� conduct was discriminatory harassment sufficiently serious to alter the conditions of Faragher�s employment and constitute an abusive working environment. The District Court then held that the City could be held liable for the harassment of its supervisory employees because the harassment was pervasive enough to support an inference that the City had �knowledge, or constructive knowledge,� of it� He made crudely demeaning references to women generally, id., at 1557, and once commented disparagingly on Faragher�s shape, ibid.�

In Rogers v. ARINC (Alameda County Superior Court) claims that she was subjected to a hostile work environment due to her sex, her race (African American) and her complaints about the hostile environment. The plaintiff was employed in a working environment which had few women and people of color, and her employer permitted her co-workers to create a hostile environment. The case was tried to a jury, which awarded the plaintiff $194,000.

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