IT is illegal to harass a worker because of that person’s race or sex. Racial harassment may be verbal or physical conduct targeting the worker’s race, skin color, or national origin. Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or offensive remarks about a person’s sex. Both types of harassment are illegal, particularly if the conduct or the remarks are frequent or severe that they create a hostile environment, or when it results in an adverse employment decision, such as the firing of the worker.
This is the situation that Daniel Beasley found himself in.
Beasley, reports The Daily Journal, is an African-American, who began work at a Roscoe’s House of Chicken N’ Waffles location in Los Angeles, CA. His manager, Jenetta Phillips, an African-American woman, considered him a good employee and promoted him to shift leader. Five months later, Beasley was transferred to another location in West Los Angeles managed by Lisa Hernandez, a Hispanic woman. Beasley claimed that during work, Hernandez regularly used derogatory language and made many negative comments about black people, in both English and Spanish.
Another shift leader, Adriana Terrones, also regularly used a racially offensive Spanish term referring to African-Americans and engaged in sexually offensive behavior. Beasley claimed Terrones made sexual comments, performed sexually suggestive motions on fellow employees, and commented on the body parts of Roscoe’s female employees and customers.
Beasley complained about the racial and sexual harassment at work. However, Terrones mocked him for his complaints, and Hernandez threatened to fire him for complaining. Beasley also complained to the Human Resource (HR) Manager, and to the CEO and owner of the restaurant chain. Hernandez told Beasley that he complained too much and it was causing problems between him and Terrones. Hernandez then fired him.
Beasley became homeless and was living behind a dumpster when he sued Roscoe’s for, among other things, wrongful termination, retaliation, discrimination and harassment.
The employer contended that Beasley was fired for his failure to order enough supplies and for attendance issues. The employer denied that Beasley had ever complained about harassment to the HR manager or the CEO. The employer argued that Beasley was not a sexual harassment victim because he admitted that no sexual harassment was directed at him. Furthermore, the employer denied that Beasley was racially discriminated by Hernandez because Hernandez was the person who hired him and later gave him two raises during his 8-month work at the restaurant.
The case went to trial, which lasted 14 days. After almost two days of deliberations, the jury found in favor of Beasley and awarded him $1,661,800 in damages. The employer was also found liable for retaliation, discrimination, the negligent hiring of Hernandez and Terrones, and failure to prevent harassment and discrimination.
For employees who experience what appears to be sex or race discrimination at work, the following things are worth remembering:
Petty slights, annoyances, and isolated incidents (unless extremely serious) will not rise to the level of illegal harassment. To be unlawful, the conduct must create a work environment that would be intimidating, hostile, or offensive to reasonable people.
Offensive conduct may include offensive jokes, slurs, epithets or name calling, physical assaults or threats, intimidation, ridicule or mockery, insults or put-downs, offensive objects or pictures, and interference with work performance. The harasser can be a direct supervisor, a supervisor in another area, an agent of the employer, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
As in Beasley’s case, the victim does not have to be the actual harassment target, but may be someone who witnessed the harassment or is affected by the offensive conduct.
Finally, employers who retaliate against employees who opposed the unlawful practices or who filed a complaint, testified or assisted in an investigation conducted by government agencies regarding harassment and discrimination, may be liable for lost wages, emotional distress, and punitive damages.
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The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. Atty. Sayas’ Law Office is located at 500 N. Brand Blvd. Suite 980, Glendale, CA 91203. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com.
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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is trial attorney who has obtained several million dollar recoveries for his clients against employers and insurance companies. He has been selected as a Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum.