MLG Hands $59,500.00 Settlement to Sexually-harassed and Wrongfully-terminated Client-Employee

July 23, 2012 - PRLog -- In a recent employment case handled by the Mesriani Law Group, they were able to secure a $59,500.00 settlement for a female employee who was subjected to sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

According to case files, the employee was hired by an undisclosed construction company as an administrative assistant on March 29, 2010. From June through November that same year, the general manager of that construction company started sexually harassing her. For instance, he purposely drops objects on the floor for the employee to pick up, moaning as he watched her bend over. He also made graphic sexual comments coupled with hand gestures to demonstrate his statements.

Additionally, from February to August 2011, the employee continued to endure sexual comments and acts from her general manager. On one occasion, the employee walked into the general manager’s office and saw him watching porn. He even explicitly asked her to take a look at the lewd video clips and photographs that he was watching or looking at.

These particular acts went on for around six months, with several instances happening in a given month that the employee can’t pinpoint the exact dates of the infractions. The general manager had also requested her and another company employee several times to completely erase the former’s browsing history so as to avoid being reprimanded for his web browsing exploits.

Additionally, said employee was even told by the general manager about his sexual exploits, and asked her not to report his actions to anyone, particularly to the company’s president. Once, he even told her that she looked “so hot” in her dress, which made her very uncomfortable that she wanted to go home and change her clothes.

When the employee had enough of the general manager’s sexual advances, despite fearing retaliation and embarrassment, she brought her concerns to a staff of the company’s human resources department. The said HR personnel replied with a correspondence, saying that she had since discussed with the general manager about the company’s policy on harassment. However, the harassment continued despite the meeting.

Eventually, employee thought of reporting her concerns anew to the HR staff, but did not push through with it for fear of bias and humiliation. Apparently, the employee saw the HR personnel blurting vulgarities and cursing the president of the company. She even saw her raise a middle finger on him. Said employee was likewise even told by the HR staff that she documented everything the employee did concerning her reporting of the sexual harassment being done to her; this, without her knowledge. All throughout this event, the HR personnel was markedly rude to her, which greatly affected the employee emotionally.

Furthermore, on August 3, 2011, the employee sent the company president a text message, telling him that she wishes to speak with him about the incidents. The next day, (August 4) she submitted a report to him, which outlined the inappropriate behavior of the general manager and the instances of sexual harassment that she experienced.

Afterwards, when she asked the president if he was able to review the report, the president responded with hostility. She was then terminated that same day. For her own protection, the employee kept her conversations over text messaging with the president, including his promise to provide her with her final paycheck immediately after her dismissal. However, he ignored her request for her to have her back pay, a copy of her employee files, and a dated and signed letter detailing her termination from work so she could file and receive unemployment benefits.

To add further insult, said employee was even banned from entering the office premises. She also did not receive her final paycheck until three days after her August 4 termination date.

Her ordeal during the course of her employment evidently caused her to experience emotional distress and financial difficulty. She was clearly a victim of employment discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex which could have been prevented had the construction company taken appropriate steps to address or correct the inappropriate acts and/or behavior of the employees concerned. She was likewise retaliated against in the form of unlawful termination.

But, thanks to the adept handling of the case by the reputable lawyers and paralegal staff of Mesriani Law Group, the dispute between the two parties involved led to a successful settlement of $59,500.00. The law firm not only secured special, general and punitive damages for the employee, but also guided her throughout her most difficult times and eventually provided her the justice she deserves.



ABOUT MESRIANI LAW GROUP
Mesriani Law Group is a full service law firm operating out of Los Angeles, California, with several distinct and independent divisions, each of which specializes in a different branch of the law. Mesriani Law Group currently maintains divisions specializing in Business and Corporate Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation, Social Security Disability (SSD/RSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, and Employment/Labor Law. For more information about Mesriani Law Group, please go to http://www.mesrianilaw.com/.