Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in New Jersey
At my job, I found out from my Supervisor that one of the Executive Managers of my workplace have claimed that I sexually harassed her by a conversation I had with her a couple of days ago. This is what was said,
Me- Did you find a valentine for the valentines day coming up?
Manager- Oh, yes i do! I had the same valentine for quite awhile now....
Me- Why did you sound like you were bored of the valentine?
Manager- *chuckles* Oh no, no. Its not boring at all.
On that same day that occurred, another one of the managers called me to his office and explained that the manager that I had the conversation with felt a little "weirded out" about the topic, said she tell him shes alright with it but to refrain from fraternizing with any executive people in the building to prevent any problems from happening. And that was the end of it.
After having 4 scheduled days off from my job, that's when i heard she used the words "sexual harass" at a manager's meeting and now everyone at my workplace is giving me stares and looks.
The question is can she actually fire me for sexual harassment by what was said in that conversation? And if not, she I actually sue her for defamation of character?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You can be fired for any reason and you can sue for defamation in this circumstance.