Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in Virginia

Wrongful termination-alleged sexual harassment

I was given the option of resigning or being terminated from my job for wrongful accusations of sexual harassment. My employer was informed at a convention type gathering(where heavy drinking was involved) that I had exposed a breast to three female individuals on work premises and said ''do you want a piece of this''. No details of individual names or written documentation of allegations were provided to me at the termination of my employment. One of the three individual said she was offended, the other two apparently were not. We are a buisness with thirty employees primarily women with no EEOC sexual harassment policy in tact. I deny the allegations and need advice on my legal actions.


Asked on 3/26/04, 9:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Wrongful termination-alleged sexual harassment

What you have described would not appear to be conduct prohibited by federal antidiscrimnation laws related to sexual harassment and the creation and/or toleration of a hostile work environment as a result of such harassment.(One must remember that Virginia is a so-called employment-at-will jurisdiction where you can be fired for almost any reason that doesn't violate one of the federally protected categories of specifically described discrimination(which includes sexual harassment) unless you're working under a contract or collective bargaining agreement which offers an employee protection against such summary dismissal.) You might wish to arrange a consultation with an attorney knowledgeable in Virginia labor and employment law issues as well as federal antidiscrimination laws in order to evaluate more closely the specific facts of your particular situation.

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Answered on 3/26/04, 11:32 pm


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