Is it sexual harassment? Any lawyers or anyone who knows?

Question

Is it sexual harassment if your boss says to you that your appearance is not professional (i wear jeans some days b/c i don't see the public and there is only he and 1 other person (male) in our office) and said, "You are a very attractive girl, i am not saying to come dressed llike a bombshell but you should use what god gave you.

I haven't changed what i wear for himb/c he is new and we have always been allowed to wear jeans and when we have meetings i know to dress appropriately (wear suits) this morning i found a email from another person accepting my position (he offered it to her), so he is firing me.

What should i do

My work is not in question, he said i am a good worker. He has done other things such as go through my purse.

All our other offices (branches) where jeans and i don't where them everyday. I told the president on him for going through my purse so i beleive it is payback to me

Answer 1

NO that is not sexual harassment.
Be careful crying sexual harassment, the person can then sue you for slander.

You are a girl, i would expect you to dress like one, IE what youd you say if a man you worked with dressed up like a girl...

Answer 2

He said, "You are a very attractive girl, i am not saying to come dressed like a bombshell but you should use what god gave you."

Well, I would not consider that sexual harassment considering the context. Best choice of words? Probably not. There are any number of ways he could have conveyed that message, but it appears that his intent behind the comment was simply to "encourage you to dress more appropriately for the workplace."

The "using what God gave you," remark could be argued that he was suggesting you use your head (Brain) when selecting your attire in the morning.

The bottom line is that he may not even have a clue that those words could be construed in a sexual way. His "intent" is what is being argued here and to prove intent vs. a slip up with the English language will require an understanding of the whole office dynamics, (Context).

And since you admit here that you have not changed what you are wearing in the workplace, even after he has made the recommendation to dress more professionally, then I can understand why he might have hired someone else.


EDIT: He went through your purse? This place sounds like a mess. Just go get another job. Save yourself the heart ache and move on.

Answer 3

Your boss has the right to ask you to dress professionally. If he says casual is inappropriate, it is. In this case, precedents have no value. However, it should have been formally stated so that employees are aware of the office "rules".

Has he actually told you that you are being fired? In your case, you should ask your boss, his boss and HR as to the reason you are being fired. See if there is a valid reason. If professional dressing comes up, you can tell them that 1. past sets the precedent and you were allowed to wear casual in the past on non-client days; 2. there were no specific notices circulated in the office about the rule change; 3. your new boss talked about "use what god gave you" and not that it was a requirement at the office.

Often a new manager will bring in his team and his type of people because he/she doesn't like the old ways of office behavior. It may not have anything to do with you personally. So, instead of guessing, get answers.

Answer 4

You said New Boss, well that can mean New rules...as in no jeans/ Casual wear. While you might not see the public that has no bearing. In most states there are what are called At Will laws stating that one can be hired/ fired, and there has to no reason or fault. Just like you can quit your job, and you do not have to give a reason. You have shown him that you do not respect what he says and are not going to follow the rules that he is setting in place. So why should he keep you in the office. You are just going to cause conflict and problems. Did you sit down with him and try to have a talk about jeans, to see if maybe there was something that could be worked out, like on Fridays, or something. From what you posted, it does not seem like it. No one wants someone to work for them if they are opposing them on such a simple issue as office attire, I would not want that atmosphere in the office where I work.

No what he said to you in no way was sexual, and as far as what you should do, seems to me like you should look for another job.

After seeing your added details, without cameras in the office you have no proof that he went through your purse. I have know people to do that. Is there a reason that you could not transfer to another store/branch in the company? It may be your best bet. Working relations in your current branch are going to strained to say the least, him nor you seems to have started off on a good foot, you are likely not going to enjoy working for him.

Answer 5

Since you are not in his favour, you shall have to struggle if you continue to work for or under him. But if this company of yours have other bosses equal in power or may be even more, may be, you can get a helping hand from one of the decent bosses.
We all have to dance to the music of our bosses. Whether he or she is new or old, he has the final say. This is a fact that we cannot run away. While he has all the power in the world, he too is answerable and accountable to every single thing that goes on in the company no matter how unimportant the thing is. Any bad thing that happens, he will be the first one to be shot down. Not you.
Unless you are a manual worker, you should wear a fairly decent set of clothes. Here it means clothes that do not stick to your body and make you look exactly you without you being naked. A blazer will make you look important and that is its' only purpose. So you should wear the clothes that is compatible with your work.
Finally, from all the words that you have given to us, I would also say that you are not sexually harrassed.

Answer 6

Technically it would not be sexual harassment for discharging an employee for failing to meet an established dress code. In the eyes of the law, "established" means either in writing or by long standing custom. In this case, since there are only 3 employees in your department and two of them are men, and one of them is relatively new, there can be no claim of long standing custom. Therefore the dress code must be in writing.

Secondly, if you had a witness to your supervisor's comments about you being an attractive girl, and using what God gave you, then you could have grounds for sexual harassment by creating a hostile work environment. But that ploy would not be worth pursuing unless you had a witness who would be willing to testify to that.

Finally, while all of this amounts to nothing that can prevent you from being terminated, most of it is grounds for a claim for unemployment compensation. Every state has a Worker's Unemployment Benefit or something similar, so look into that if you are, in fact, terminated as a result of your dress standard. And don't be afraid to pursue the no written policy issue in filing for unemployment benefits as well.

Good luck and best wishes. Feel free to email me if you have any other questions.

Answer 7

Is there anything in the personnel manual regarding a dress code for your company? If there is an established dress code, you must follow it.

If you have a complaint against your boss, you should take it to the Human Resources / Personnel Department.

You have not stated that he has fired you; you have only stated that you think you are being fired.

You may have a cause of action for wrongful termination. If you have been fired, contact a good labor attorney.

Answer 8

He is a dumba**, but I don't think this could be construed as sexual harrassment. By him saying that he "does not mean you should come dressed as a bombshell" he was trying to let you know that he did not mean anything inappropriate by his comment, but that you are not dressing as professional as he would like. He just sounds rather crass, and like he does not realize how he sounds.

Get another job. This is not worth fighting, unless you have several thousand dollars minimum for an attorney's retainer and you just have an axe to grind.

Answer 9

I had a co-worker say things to me on three different occasions, first, He asked me if I knew where to get illegal drugs for him because he knew a girl that would give him a ******** for drugs and that he had not had ***** in a year and a half. I told him that it was too much information to be telling me. The second occasion, I was standing at the lottery machine(I worked with the public in a gas station) cashing in lottery tickets and he turned around out of the blue and said "You keep on I'm going to give you a titty twister. I walked away and the very next day said something to my manager(which she now denies I even went to her about it). On the last occasion, He was leaving work and I was ringing up his merchandise and like I say to every customer, is there anything else you need? And he answered its not what I need, you know what I want. I texted my manager and told her that I did not feel comfortable working with him any longer and the very next morning, I got a phone call with her yelling screaming and cussing at me...I then hung up with her and called her boss and spoke wit him about it and the district mgr said that my co-worker would get wrote up and I would get an apology, which I haven't seen or heard of either one happening. Instead, I have gotten the cold shoulder from the manager and nasty notes left up with no names on them, but I know they were directed at me...I have since quit the job because I am no longer comfortable working there. What can I do about this? Or am I in the wrong on all of this?

Answer 10

If you feel uncomfortable with his statements and it distracts you from your work, it could be sexual harassment. Especially the statement "use what god gave you" That implies directly to your body, most likely your breasts, behind, and or legs. All of which are body parts that can be seen as sexually attractive parts, hence making his words sexually harassing comments. If you were fat and had saggy breasts, would he really ask you to dress differently than jeans and a blouse that covers everything? Probably not. I would call an attorney , especially if any of the comments make it uncomfortable to work with how you do or don't dress.

Answer 11

The boss has the right to maintain a dress standard in the workplace. Although, in my opinion, the comment about what "God gave you" and the comment about how attractive you are has no bearing on your work or work performance.

Those comments would be considered borderline harassment to say the least!

Best wishes.