A healthcare consulting company which operates skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) across Texas and Louisiana, and the operators of one of the SNFs in El Paso, Texas, violated federal law when they allowed an administrator to sexually harass a housekeeping aide, and then retaliated against her and another employee for complaining, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed on September 26, 2023.
According to the EEOC’s suit, an administrator at the SNF sexually harassed a housekeeping aide by subjecting her to unwelcome sexual comments and forcible kissing. When her male supervisor elevated the sexual harassment complaint, the human resources director at the facility was dismissive and suggested that the aide may have enticed the administrator to harass her.
The EEOC further alleges that no credible investigation was conducted into the complaint, and the administrator whose misconduct was reported was never disciplined. The aide was subjected to taunting and criticism by onsite management at the facility after her complaint. The supervisor who sought intervention from upper management to assist the aide was later given a written disciplinary warning for “gossiping.” Ultimately, both were constructively discharged, the EEOC said.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, and retaliation for complaining about it. The EEOC filed suit in US District Court for the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. In this case, the EEOC seeks back pay, reinstatement or front pay, compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief for the housekeeping supervisor and housekeeping aide, including an order barring the defendants from engaging in discriminatory treatment in the future.
“This is a case involving an imbalance of power between the harasser and his victims who both worked in housekeeping,” said Joel Clark, a trial attorney in the EEOC’s Dallas District Office. “The harasser took advantage of his authority to sexually harass a subordinate employee. The EEOC will stand up for the rights of workers like these who, when they step forward, are unable get employer protection from hostile environments.”
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. A complaint of harassment must be investigated promptly and impartially. Equal employment opportunity laws prohibit punishing job applicants or employees for asserting their rights to be free from employment discrimination including harassment. Participating in a complaint process is protected from retaliation under all circumstances.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies and procedures on preventing harassment, including sexual harassment. Also review policies and procedures on nonretaliation. Update your policies as needed.
- Train staff on what is considered harassment and their role in promptly reporting all types of harassment to a supervisor, the compliance and ethics officer, or through the facility’s hotline. Train supervisors and the compliance and ethics officer on their role when harassment has been reported to them by an employee. Stress the importance of nonretaliation. Document that these trainings occurred and file the signed documents in each employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit by anonymously polling staff to determine if they are being sexually harassed or experiencing discrimination and ask if they feel free to report such instances without fear of retaliation or retribution.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
