A skilled nursing facility (SNF) company has agreed to pay $150,000 and provide other relief to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced August 30, 2023.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, residents at one of the company’s Colorado SNFs repeatedly subjected female employees to sexual harassment by offensive grabbing, asking them for sexual favors, and directing inappropriate sexual language and gestures toward them. The female employees complained about the harassment to the facility’s management. Both the facility’s management as well as nationwide company administrative employees were aware of the residents’ ongoing hostile behavior and sexual harassment, but did nothing to stop or prevent it.
The company then retaliated against a female employee who reported sexual harassment by suspending her without pay and firing her within days of her complaint. The company recently transferred all operations of its SNFs in Colorado to new companies and/or operators.
The alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits sexual harassment and retaliating against employees who oppose the harassment.
Under the consent decree resolving the lawsuit, in addition to paying $150,000 to the victims of sexual harassment and retaliation, if the company operates any SNFs in Colorado in the future, it must review and revise its anti-discrimination policies to prevent unlawful sexual harassment, including sexual harassment by residents. The company must also provide training to its employees in Colorado on how to properly care for and report residents who engage in hostile behavior or unwelcome sexual behavior.
“We are pleased the EEOC has secured a settlement in this matter that heightens awareness about sexual harassment by clients in nursing facilities, informs staff of their rights, and, we hope, avoids such incidents in the future and in other nursing facilities around the country,” said Regional Attorney Mary Jo O’Neill of the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Utah.
“Retaliation against employees who complain about sexual harassment is a separate violation of Title VII,” said Amy Burkholder, director of the EEOC’s Denver Field Office. “Over 50 percent of EEOC charges involve a retaliation complaint. Employees must be free to raise concerns about sexual harassment in the workplace without fear of reprisal.”
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 or the compliance and ethics officer. 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.*
