Allegedly, the cameraman repeatedly took live shots of her buttocks and, when she notified upper management, she was assigned to film Nicki Minaj with the same cameraman anyway. According to her suit, it was there that the cameraman began to masturbate in front of her. A few months later, she was terminated.
That raises the question of what to do if you are being sexually harassed on the job.
1. First, if your supervisor or co-workers make sexual comments or comments that are
obviously based on your race, gender or other protected characteristic, write down exactly what was said after work or during a work break. Make sure to include the date and time of the incident and the names of any witnesses who saw what happened.
2. Second, keep copies of any letters you send to your employer about the discrimination or harassment and of any correspondence you receive from your employer in return.
3. Third, if you have been harassed and your employer has a policy for making complaints about harassment, you should follow the policy and make a complaint. In particular, if you are being harassed by a co-worker or low-level supervisor, it is very important that you report the harassment to your employer immediately; otherwise your employer may later argue that it did not know that the harassment was taking place. Follow-up your report by sending a written complaint about the harassment to your employer and keep a copy of the complaint for yourself.
If you decide to take your case above and beyond your company, keep the following in mind:
4. Where can I file?
Ascertain the jurisdiction of where the incident or incidents took place. For example, you can only file a complaint with the Cook County Commission on Human Rights if the discrimination occurred outside Chicago but in Cook County, and you can only file a complaint with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations if the discrimination occurred in the city of Chicago.
5. How long do I have to file a harassment suit?
Filing your charge on time is extremely important — if you fail to do so, you may lose the right to bring your lawsuit at all. In Illinois, you must file a charge with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 300 days of the date the discrimination or harassment occurred. The deadline for filing a discrimination charge under state, county, and city law is even shorter — within 180 days from the date the discrimination took place.
6. Where should I file my discrimination charge?
Where you file your charge depends on many factors, e.g., what type of discrimination you have experienced, where the discrimination occurred, the amount of time left to file your charge, the size of your employer, what sorts of remedies you would like to seek, and whether you are the only person affected by the discrimination or not. If possible, seek legal assistance before you file with an enforcement agency so that your lawyer can help you decide which agency is best for you. But do not let the time period for filing pass while you are looking for legal assistance. The filing time period does not stop while you are looking for a lawyer.
–terry shropshire
