Basic Energy Services, a Texas-based oil well contractor, has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a sex discrimination and retaliation suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). The lawsuit alleged that the company discriminated against a former field attendant because of her sex and then fired her because she complained about sexual harassment and a promotion denial.
According to the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, the plaintiff Tawnya Smith alleged that she was subjected to months of sexual harassment by her immediate supervisor and, when she filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, the company discharged her in retaliation. The complaint also alleged that Basic Energy Services denied Smith, who worked for the company as a field disposal attendant, a promotion to field supervisor in 2006 because of her gender.
As part of the settlement, the company agreed to pay Tawnya Smith $250,000 in damages. They also agreed to post and disseminate new anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation policies and have many of its corporate officers and managers undergo annual training on sex discrimination and the anti-retaliation provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The company also agreed to develop and implement a recruiting and/or job training program designed to increase a pool of female candidates for promotion in all the company's field positions over the next three years.
The EEOC's regional attorney in Houston, Texas stated that "This resolution not only benefits Ms. Smith, but also serves the interests of all working women, particularly in industries and jobs that remain dominated by men. This suit reminds employers yet again that, regardless of the industry or job in question, qualified female workers must be granted the same opportunities as qualified males and be free to work without bias, harassment or fear of retaliation. Employers who refuse to grant female workers equal opportunities in the workplace and retaliate against them for lodging discrimination complaints clearly do so at their peril."
Sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, and retaliation for complaining about it violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sexual harassment can occur in a wide variety of different circumstances, including but not limited to the following:
• The victim or person subject to the harassment does not have to be of the opposite sex. The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man.
• The harasser can be a co-worker, the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, or even a non-employee.
• The victim or person subject to the harassment does not necessarily have to be the person directly harassed, but could be anyone that is affected in their work by the offensive conduct.
• There may be illegal sexual harassment even if there is no economic injury to the person harassed and eve if the person harassed is not discharged from his/her employment.
• In order for harassment to be actionable, the harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.
If you are a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace and you want to protect your rights, contact Santiago Padilla, Law Offices of Santiago J. Padilla, P.A. as soon as possible. Based in Miami, Florida, we represent workers throughout South Florida in sexual harassment cases. To set up a free initial consultation, you can contact us through the Internet or call us a (305) 358-1949.
