Sexual Harassment Lawyers Protect Civil Rights

The boss that pinches the back side of the assistant . . . the cubicle neighbor who posts photos or jokes of an offensive sexual nature . . . the supervisor who seduces an underling, and then demotes him when he refuses to continue the affair . . . are all examples of sexual harassment on the job. Contact the Houston employment law firm of SLS for an initial consultation if you are experiencing an uncomfortable situation on the job as a result of sexual harassment.

For over 40 years, sexual harassment at work has been explicitly prohibited as a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Despite nearly two generations of awareness and education on the topic, sexual harassment is still a reality for too many workers. Specifically, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines sexual harassment as follows:

“Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature . . . when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individuals’ work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.” (http:www.eeoc.gov/)

Sexual harassment on the job need not be tolerated. If you are a victim of sexual harassment at work in Texas or anywhere in the United States, the Houston employment law firm of SLS wants to be your advocate. Please contact us for an evaluation of your sexual harassment situation and a discussion of how you can help yourself, and how we might help you. If your job is on the line, we can take steps to protect it. If you wish to motivate your employer to take steps to stop the harassment, we can help you file the appropriate complaints within the time frame allowed by law. And if you believe you have suffered economic loss as a result of the sexual harassment, we can help you document that and prepare to file a lawsuit seeking compensation for your loss.

The sexual harassment lawyers at SLS have experience resolving this type of complaint for clients throughout Texas and across the nation. Contact us to discuss your sexual harassment matter.

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Successes

• $730K settlement awarded in gender discrimination case

  A federal court jury Friday returned a $730,000 gender discrimination judgment in favor of Surina Dixon - who was hired as women's basketball coach at Texas Southern University in March 2008 but left in a contract dispute without coaching a game.

• $3.2M settlement awarded in sexual harassment case

  A former Brazoria County judge has been ordered to pay more than $3 million to three women who say he sexually harassed them while he was on the bench.

• $875,000 Settlement in Whistleblower suit against the City of Houston

  The city council agreed to pay $875,000 to a veterinarian who successfully sued the City of Houston; after he was unfairly fired from his job at the city's animal pound for complaining of animal abuse at the kennel. The jury found him retaliated against by his superiors who fired him with prejudice.

• Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $574,000

  Our firm represented 70 current and former servers of a restaurant chain that required its servers to share a portion of their tips with the managers and owners of the restaurant.

• $375,000 Jury Verdict in a Gender Discrimination suit against the Houston Police Department

  The jury found a female HPD cadet was discriminated against because of her gender when she was fired from the cadet class. HPD said she violated the Cadet Code of Conduct by carrying a gun in her personal car; however there were previous cases where male cadets were only reprimanded and not terminated.

• Sexual Harassment Settlement in excess of $300,000

  Our firm represented several employees who were sexually harassed by a male supervisor. After obtaining a letter of determination from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, our firm was able to negotiate a settlement in excess of $300,000.

• Verdict in excess of $300,000 in National Origin Discrimination Case

  Our firm represented a former dental professor at the University of Texas Health & Science Center who was discriminated against based on his national origin. At trial, we provided evidence of racial slurs, retaliation, and disparate wages in comparison to white professors. After two days of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the professor and awarded mental anguish damages in excess of $150,000.

• $250,000 Jury Verdict in a Racial Discrimination suit against Montgomery County Sheriff's Department

  The jury found the Lieutenant was demoted from a Detective to Recruiting because he is black. He was terminated six months after complaining to authorities. The jury agreed the termination was a form of retaliation and awarded him lost wages past and future.

• $229,268 Jury Verdict in a Reverse Discrimination suit against the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority ("Metro")

  A white male employee sued the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority ("Metro") alleging race discrimination in violation of Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code. The employee was denied a promotion to the position of Superintendent despite being the most qualified person for the position. The jury found that the interview panel was tainted by a person on the panel, the second term president of the local chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials ("COMTO"), and an organization which promotes the creation of opportunities for minorities.

• Same-Sex Sexual Harassment Settlement in excess of $150,000

  Our firm represented a male employee who was sexually harassed by another male employee at a construction company. We were able to open dialogue with the construction company and bring about a quick resolution for our client.

• Wage & Hour Settlement in excess of $149,000

  Our firm represented 16 current and former waitresses at two popular bars that required their waitresses to work off-the-clock and to share a portion of their tips with members of management. The bar also failed to pay its waitresses overtime for hours they worked in excess of 40 in a work week. Our firm was able to demonstrate that the bar's actions were in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which resulted in settlement.

• Arbitration award in excess of $120,000 in a Breach of Employment Contract suit.

  An employee of a Houston based company was terminated in breach of his employment contract. The company alleged that the employee had performance issues which allowed the company to terminate the employee under its "for cause" provision. Our firm was able to show that the alleged performance issues were false and that the company breached the employment agreement by terminating the employee prior to the expiration of the term of the agreement.

• $115,000 Jury Verdict in a Racial Discrimination suit against the INS

  The jury found the INS discriminated against a black inspector. The inspector filed a complaint with authorities in the department for being passed over for promotion. The jury determined that passengers were solicited and asked to prepare written complaints against the employee to be used against him as a basis for termination. . The jury found the INS acted with prejudice toward the inspector.

• $106,000 Jury Verdict in Wrongful Termination suit against the City of Houston

  The jury found the city acted with malice in firing a dog-catcher for reporting instances of animal cruelty and racial discrimination of Hispanic workers to a supervisor. Jurors concluded the city violated the state whistle-blower law, which prevents government agencies from retaliating against employees simply for reporting problems.

• Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $100,000

  We filed suit on behalf of six servers of a fine dining establishment under the Fair Labor Standards Act, arguing that the restaurant's requirement that its servers share a percentage of their tips with the restaurant's manager was in violation of federal law. The parties were able to reach resolution of the matter at mediation.

• Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $100,000

  The firm filed a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act on behalf of five current and former servers of a fine dining establishment, arguing that the restaurant violated federal law by failing to pay its servers overtime, requiring them to work off-the-clock, and requiring that its servers share a portion of their tips with the restaurant's manager on duty. After notice of the lawsuit was mailed to other current and former servers, an additional seven servers joined the lawsuit. The parties settled the case at mediation.

• Wage & Hour Settlement in the amount of $95,000

  An employee of a communications company was terminated when he complained to management that he was not receiving overtime pay for hours he worked in excess of 40 in a work week. The company alleged that the employee was not entitled to overtime because he was exempt under the computer professional exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act, and that the employee was terminated because he refused to sign a non-competition agreement. Our firm was able to demonstrate that the employee did not meet the duties of an exempt computer professional, which resulted in settlement of the matter.

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