New York Employment Attorneys Blog

It has been revealed that World Wrestling Entertainment, the Connecticut based wrestling organization, that their General Counsel & Vice President over claims of sexual harassment resulting from a Wrestlemania Party.

An employee had claimed that the individual had propositioned her for sex during the party, at which employees were said to be drinking.

Strangely, the employee who accused the individual of such sexual harassment herself was terminated while having sexual relations with a subordinate in the office, during work hours.

If these accusations are true, it is sad to see an attorney blatantly disregard the laws regarding sexual harassment in the workplace.

A local woman who worked for the Penthouse Gentleman's Club in New York City has come out with charged accusations against her former employees. The woman, Lourdes Garcia, claims that while working as a cocktail waitress for the west-side club she was constantly sexually harassed, and was subjected to a number of comments regarding her breast size by her managers in front of customers.

As well, the suit filed in Federal court claims that she was subjected to constant sexual advances of her managers, and that when she tried to complain about the subject, she was terminated two weeks before Christmas.

The Penthouse Club is accused of retaliating against Garcia for complaining about her sexual harassment, as well as for the sexual harassment that she has alleged.

A number of events, including the attempted Christmas Day bombing, have highlighted the security surrounding our transportation systems in America. However, a number of recent claims regarding the Air Marshall program have brought the programs into a different light as employees in the program have claimed discrimination and harassment at the hands of supervisors and coworkers.

In one allegation, a supervisor is said to have created a "Jeopardy"-like game, using derogatory names for Hispanics, African-Americans and homosexuals has a way to punish employees and to insult others. Also, a TSA Marshall in Cincinnati claims that her supervisors opened a disciplinary hearing into her work performance after filing a formal complaint for sexual harassment against supervisors.

We at the Harman Firm are terribly shocked at these accusations. No employee should be forced to work in an environment where they are not respected and treated equally, especially for these individuals who work to keep the air safe. It is unfortunate that those we trust with our safety are subjected to such behavior.

A group of three EMT's working in West New York, New Jersey have settled out of court after they brought a lawsuit against the City. The suit claimed that the EMT director of West New York constantly harassed them, making sexual advances against the employees, as well as making a number of derogatory comments against the employees.

The employees repeatedly complained about their treatment, but were only rebuffed and retaliated against for their claims. According to attorneys for the plaintiffs, their complaints were met with reduced hours on their shifts, and continued harassment from their superiors.

In settling, the Defendant, the city of West New York, assumes no responsibility or guilt in this matter.

The settlement in this case is a sign of the increasing seriousness of sexual harassment suits. Further, it highlights the necessity of employees complaining about any treatment that they feel to be unfair.

In an important ruling in New Jersey's appellate court, a decision today ordered that protection against sexual harassment exists not only between employees and employers, but also between business owners and clients as well.

The case at issue involved a female employee of a tire distributor and a client of hers who had purchased tires in the past. When the female employee rebuffed the client's sexual advances, the client pulled all of his business away.

This sets a new precedent in examining sexual harassment and quid pro quo retaliation in an expanded business field. This is good news for employees who have dealt with clients, and met with sexual harassment in the course of their employment, while not necessarily being employed alongside the harasser.

No individual should choose between their career success and sexual advances, or worry about the repercussions of reporting sexual harassment. We hope to see this precedent expanded, and used by more states courts.

The EEOC has filed a lawsuit against a New York City restaurant, Sparks Steakhouse. The complaint alleges that managers routinely harassed and denigrated other male employees, grabbing and fondling them while working their shifts. As well, the employees claim that manager made repeated lewd comments about them while working.

Employees who complained were often given less desirable shifts, and were eventually terminated for bringing the allegations to light. The EEOC, suing on behalf of the employees, is taking an increasingly firm stand on male on male sexual harassment in the workplace. It highlights the trend that more men are coming forward when being harassed, overcoming misconceptions that only females can be harassed.

The EEOC is right to follow up on these accusations, and will hopefully shed more light on this practice.

Five Manhattan personal trainers employed at the Battery Park Swim and Fitness Club in Lower Manhattan have come forward alleging sexual harassment on the part of one their managers. The group claims that they were subjected to number of incidents, amounting to a pattern of sexual harassment and retaliation against female employees of the club.

The trainers claim that superiors ogled them, and that they would often snap female trainers bra straps.

When the women complained to HR at the club, they were rebuffed and no action was taken against the offending employees. Most strangely, the five trainers were fired one by one after their complaints were made known to human resources.

This blatant act of retaliation is absolutely incredible in these times. No worker should be silences for voicing their concerns over unfair treatment and sexual harassment in the workplace.

At a conference held today, November 19th by the New York City council addressed the growing complaints of sexual harassment on crowded subway cars throughout the city. Using information gathered from the NYPD and the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the conference drew attention to this increasingly disturbing trend of women being sexually harassed on subway cars.

The report claimed that most complaints result from riders on crowded, rush hour subway cars. In particular, the reports singled out the 4 5 6 line running between Union Square and Grand Central station as an area of concern. The conference drew a number of politicians and City officials taking a hard stand against this harassment, which often takes the form of touching, lewd gesturing, ogling, or threats, usually coming from men and directed at women.

James P. Hall, a representative of the NYPD's Transit Police fore stated that subway sexual harassment is the "No. 1 quality of life offense on the subway", while Darlene Mealy from the Women's Issues Committee stated that riders should "not take [sexual harassment] as social behaviors that have to be condoned."

While complaints are up from years past, the reports stated that these figures are likely to be under representative of the larger problem of harassment on subways, with victims not always coming forward to complain, and that crowded trains often make it difficult to figure out exactly what is going on, and who is carrying out the harassment.

While the complaints highlight growing intolerance for such behavior, coupled with a subway information campaign alerting riders to report any instances of sexual harassment, the report called for a greater policing of these incidents on the subways and to punish offenders. Arrest records from subway sexual harassment cases showed that of the 412 individuals arrested, 71 had previous records for sexual assault.

The article also talks about new forms of enforcement. Police are informing individuals to get cell phone camera pictures of the individuals in question to aid in identification. The police can then use these pictures to help locate and arrest offenders, a tactic that has had success in past events.

As the ads state, a crowded car is not an excuse for sexual harassment. If you are being harassed on a train car, speak up and let the car know of the offending behavior, and try to notify the police as soon as possible. As more individuals report these events, it will hopefully be harder for offenders to carry out such egregious and illegal behavior.

Sexual harassment in the workplace continues to be a problem for countless individuals in the work place. Harassment can take many forms, largely face-to-face interactions. However, HR professionals are seeing a startling new trend brought on by Blackberry culture: text message sexual harassment.

A growing issue of concern is sexual harassment that spills over from the workplace encounters between people, and into their private, away from work lives, enabled by texting technology. Increasingly, it is being reported that victims of sexual harassment are often harassed through texts from harassers.

The carrying over of sexual harassment through texting during and after work is a disturbing development. We urge individuals to treat this type of harassment as any other. In particular, be sure to document the offending texts since many cell phones are set to delete or push texts out of a mailbox after a certain time. The Harman Firm urges individuals to speak up about this increasingly invasive harassment.

The Cheesecake Factory, a nationwide chain of family dining restaurants, has settled a suit brought by the EEOC alleging rampant sexual harassment. The complaint has alleged that the Cheesecake Factory was complicit in allowing male kitchen staff members to sexually harass other male employees of various restaurants.

The settlement, $345,000 in favor of the group of affected workers, comes as the company denies any wrongdoing in the matter. They argue that the settlement does not imply any fault on behalf of Cheesecake Factory, and is for the purposes of avoiding further disruption or litigation fees.

This case is an excellent example shattering the myth that male employees are free from sexual harassment in the workplace. In this case, it was an example of male on male sexual harassment that went unpunished by the management, resulting in a poor work environment for these individual. If you are a male experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace, you should not be afraid to confront it. Make sure you bring it to the attention of your superiors as soon as possible.

Tragic news coming from Queens as a woman who bravely accused her employer of sexual harassment was killed in a fire last night. Bianca Wisniewski had claimed that her employer had created a hostile work environment where she was routinely harassed by members of the construction crew and her superiors. Following this conduct, she sued the construction company and JP Morgan Chase.

The fire came on the eve of an evidence hearing in her case. While firefighters have claimed that the fire was not suspicious, the dispatcher had originally directed the fire crews to the wrong address, delaying them by six minutes or more.

The Daily News has more on the story here- Bianca Wisniewski's $20M sexual harassment lawsuit to go on despite hardhat's death in fire: lawyer
This is tragic news, and our sympathies at the Harman Firm go out to Ms. Wisniewski and her family at this time.

Last night David Letterman managed to continue to shock and surprise viewers. Rather than pulling some stunt, or inviting Barack Obama, Letterman revealed his recent personal experiences. In a stunning move, Dave asked the audience "Do you feel like a story?" He then recounted a CBS employee's attempt to extort 2 million dollars from him in exchange for keeping quiet on known affairs with his employees.

Letterman says he received a package from a CBS employee, an Emmy Winning Producer for "48 Hours", demanding the money or else he would go public with the information. Letterman aided authorities in catching the accused producer, and decided to come clean to the audience about his affairs with his employees.

While this is a personal matter, it highlights the pitfalls of romantic and sexual relationships at work. Any workplace sexual relationship can put individuals in difficult situations, and affect job performance, and complicate the work environment. Individuals in the media or in positions of power, such as politicians and entertainers, need to be even more cautious about engaging in sexual relationships with employees; what might seem consensual at the time can easily be perceived by an employee (or a third party) to be non-consensual at a later time.

While we understand Mr. Letterman's attempt to stem any gossip regarding the admitted affairs stemming from the criminal investigation, we disagree with the ways in which he quickly dismisses sexual relationships with his staff and coworkers. While all the details have not yet been revealed, it is troubling to us that he can casually brush off the very sensitive and risky implications of engaging in sexual relationships with employees.

In 1992 playwright David Mamet shocked and surprised theatergoers with the premiere of his play, Oleanna. Now, as the play returns to Broadway after 17 years, a new production is set to reignite the discussion and debate stemming from the intense and emotional play.

The play centers around two individuals, a professor and one of his students. Through the course of the play, the student accuses her professor of sexual harassment and abuse of his power of his role as a professor.

This groundbreaking work came at a time when America was dealing with the fallout of the Anita Hill case in Washington, DC, extending the debate to the stage. However new then, sexual harassment remains a constant problem in our society, showing how far we still need to work to overcome it.

For a limited time, the Broadway play will feature a "talkback" series, inviting prominent sexual harassment lawyers, HR professionals, politicians and business figures to discuss the role of sexual harassment in the workplace with audiences. This stands to be an enlightening and stimulating opportunity for all that wish to join in the conversation.

Check out a video from The Harman Firm below on college sexual harassment:

While nearly all employees at the lower end of the wage scale will benefit from the raising of minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, employees who are paid a portion of their salaries in tips will be left out to dry when the new rate goes into effect. While the minimum wage hike provided for a new minimum after the longest period without a raise, the minimum salary for workers who received tips has stayed at $2.13 an hour for over 18 years now.

This has resulted in damaging situations for waiters and other workers who work for tips, with their wages dropping nearly 36 percent in real value since the law was established. An article on the New York Times City Room blog highlights these perils, which quoted Paul K. Sonn of the National Employment Law Project. Mr. Sonn states "Tipped workers like waitresses and waiters have twice the poverty rate of the workforce as a whole".

The conditions for workers are even worse when given the fact that many employers do not fairly distribute tips, and sometimes take a percentage of tips for themselves. As well, service workers in New York City face much higher costs of living, and are often confronted with tourists that are unfamiliar with the American style of gratuity. All of these factors add up to a bad deal for some of the hardest working individuals in our work force.

Mayor Bloomberg was deposed yesterday in a case alleging widespread sexual harassment and gender discrimination at Bloomberg's media and financial news corporation. The deposition lasted for nearly four hours, and concerned the allegations of discrimination brought by over 80 female employees. The suit alleges that the company systematically discriminated against female employees who took maternity leave while pregnant.

While Bloomberg is not an individually named defendant in the action, he is a majority shareholder in the massive media conglomerate. The incidents allegedly occurred after Bloomberg was elected to Mayor, but his answers are expected to be used to determine company policy and how charges of discrimination are handled.