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<\/div>\n?In August, Lone Star Ambulance, a critical care transportation company in San Antonio, settled a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for alleged sexual harassment and retaliation.<\/p>\n
The company will pay $90,000 in damages and provide additional relief.<\/p>\n
“The EEOC is committed to vigorously enforcing anti-discrimination laws on behalf of all workers,” EEOC Trial Attorney Esha Rajendran said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n The lawsuit alleges that two female employees experienced verbal sexual harassment, unwanted sexual touching and forced submission to sex as a condition of employment by executive managers and supervisors.<\/p>\n One of the women was forced to resign due to intolerable working conditions, while the other was fired after rejecting sexual advances from a supervisor and complaining about the harassment, the EEOC stated. The alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition to the monetary relief, Lone Star Ambulance is required to take steps to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment in its workplace. This includes adopting a written policy against employment discrimination, hiring an independent monitor to investigate all complaints of sexual harassment and retaliation, and conducting annual training on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.<\/p>\n “We appreciate Lone Star Ambulance’s recognition of its responsibility to provide a harassment-free workplace, including its commitment to engage an independent investigator to handle complaints going forward,” Rajendran said.<\/p>\n Examples of Sexual Harassment at Work<\/p>\n Between fiscal year 2018 and 2021, harassment charges, including those involving sexual harassment, made up about 35 percent of all complaints<\/a> received by the EEOC. Nearly 80 percent of all sexual-harassment charges were filed by women.<\/p>\n Robyn Swirling is the founder and executive director of Works in Progress, an organization based in Washington, D.C., that provides technical assistance to organizations to create safe, harassment-free workplace environments. She said that sexual harassment can come in many forms.<\/p>\n “It’s important to remember that sexual harassment includes not only unwanted sexual advances or sexual commentary but also conduct that denigrates or shows hostility to individuals or to groups of people because of their sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or other gender-related characteristics,” Swirling explained.<\/p>\n