Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in Illinois
physical sexual harrassment by a supervisor
What are my options if I am reasonably sure that I would be fired or forced to resign if I complain to my boss about sexual harrassment? I am a forty two year old married man and I work for electrical contracting company as an electrician. I love my work but over the last few months my job has become a nightmare. The owner hired a new crew supervisor and he has been grabbing me from behind, grabbing my rearend and my testicals. He seems to think it's a big joke and he has done this several times. He even does this in front of other co-workers. I have told him to stop and I have even cursed at him and threatened to knock him out but he just tells me that I'd better watch how I speak to him or I could be on the unemployment line. I do not feel I can complain to the owner because this guy has done this in front of him and when I cursed the guy the owner basically laughed and told me to calm down and accused me of having ''issues''. I told him (the owner) I am sick and tired of him constantly grabbing me, but he just ignored me and laughed as if it were all a big joke. I am sick at heart over all this and it's a struggle to go to work each morning. Please advise me on what steps to take as I cannot afford to lose my job.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: physical sexual harrassment by a supervisor
What you described may constitute a violation of the federal laws prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace. If you are successful in such a case, then your damages include the lost income you suffer because of the wrongful conduct. Please feel free to call my office at 312-357-1431 for a free consultation.
Re: physical sexual harrassment by a supervisor
You have legal options as follows: 1)You may file a charge of sexual harassment with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 300 days of the last incident of harassment, or the Ill. Dept. of Human Rights within 180 days of the last incident. While no one can predict what your boss will do, if you are fired because of you making a charge, you can file an additional charge of retaliatory discharge for back wages lost. You could also file a civil case in court for battery.
The last option is to do nothing.
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