Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in Pennsylvania
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In PA, if you report Sexual Harassment to your employer & they point blank choose not to do anything about it, what are your legal rights?
My mother was sexually harassed by a patient while at work. She is a dental hygienist, and while cleaning this man's teeth, he moved his head toward her breasts twice (after being told by her to move it back to the center of the chair). To which he responded ''I should slap you for that.''
My mother asked one of the dentists in the office (in front of the man) to take care of the situation...she was brushed off & the dentist continued on with a different conversation. She approached the dentist (later that day), telling him that she was not kidding & that this was a serious matter. He, at the time, apologized & told her to document the situation...also that a letter would be written banning the man from the office on the basis of Sexual Harassment. She documented everything, and the details were put through to the office's Insurance company (in case of lawsuit).
Since then, the dentist has had a change of character. He has pulled her aside and personally told her that he has decided Not to send the letter to the man. Not to mention that he is very angry at Her???
What are her options?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Options
She could report the incident to the EEOC (called filing a charge) but if it is just one incident then she might have a hard time establishing a claim. In general, for sexual harassment to be actionable the harassment must be "sufficiently severe or pervasive enough to change the work environment." If your mother feels that the harassment was severe and changed her work environment then she should file an EEOC charge. If she would like help with this matter have her contact my office.
Re: Options
This sounds like a case of hostile environment sexual harassment. I would have your mom give me a call as soon as possible to discuss the facts. She (or you) can also e-mail me directly at: [email protected]
-Danny Cevallos, ESQ.
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