Getting Fired After Making Sexual Harrassment Complaint - Illegal
Q: I'm looking for information for a woman I know who was put on probation at
work the day after she made a sexual harrassment complaint against a male
coworker. Her supervisor was a woman with whom she got along very well
until the day after she made the complaint. She had worked at the company
for three years and had an excellent work record. Other women in the
company also wanted to complain about this harrasser but were afraid.
This woman took it upon herself to come forward because she was confident
of her position in the company and so was not afraid. After being put on
probation and being under severe stress, she became ill and missed 10 days
of work out of 60 days, all with sick pay. She was fired 90 days to the
day that she had made the complaint, supposedly for missing too much work.
Later she was told that she did not fit the image of the company.
Can anyone provide info as to this woman's rights, to what extent her
treatment was illegal, etc.? She has gone to the labor board and intends
to hire an attorney. Any suggestions?
A: So are you saying that as long as the company does not state that they are firing her for making the complaint, that that means they fired her for something else, and she has no recourse legally? Do you have to 'prove' being fired for the complaint, or can't you just show that it is 'likely' that you were fired for the complaitn? I understood that you don't have to prove the same way in a case like this that you do in a criminal case. I understood that you can use 'preponderance of the evidence'. I am curious what others might think about this. This is the first response I got that looked like she really doesn't have recourse except by showing that she was coerced to quit. She didn't quit, though, they fired her after three months of